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(ANSI and tSO TEST CHART No. 2)
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^NOVEMBER 8, 1917
'^lyd C (^
REPORT
OF
DR. ADAM SHORTT
Ctmmininir Invtitifalmg
The Economic Conditions
and Operations
The British Columbia Electric
Railway Conipany and
Subsidiary Companies
itnil to decide dctinitely na to the poNai-
bility of street car service lieing niuin-
tiiinnl in competition with the jitneya.
NOVE.MBEU 5, 1917
m
I -
L
THIS report hit b«en published in full by
the B. C. Electric Riilwiy Compuijr
in order that the public may be fully
informed' upon the condition! affecting their
transportation and light and power system, u
reported upon by Dr. Adam Shortt.
Q In presenting this report to the public, the
Company makes no comments, and is actuated
solely by the desirs to place all the facts with
regard to its system belore the communities
it seri'es.
4 The public has a right a* well as a duty to
know and understand its public utilities, and
we are taking this opportunity of placing the
whole report before them in the hope that it
will receive the consideration it deserves.
B. C. Electric Raiuv,vy Compaxv,
George Kiod, General itanager.
■
H
H
The Economic Conditions
and Operations
OF
The British Columbia Electric
Railway Company tf»^/
Subsidiary Companies
REPORT
BY
DR. ADAM SHORTT
Commissiantr
''|~^HE street railway finployevs of Vancouver went out on strike
■1 on June 13, lUlT, as the result of the refusal of tlie demand
for higher wages, which the Company offered to meet to the extent
of $100,000 a year. The strike histed seven and one-half davs
in Victoria and eight and one-half days in Vancouver.
% Following a meeting of representative citizens called with the
object of reinstating the car service, negotiations were opened
hy the City Count:! of Vancouver with the Company, when the
Company stated that it was impossible for it to pay the wages
asked by the empioyeca and at the same time compete with the
jitneys.
fl It was decided at this meeting timt t]ie Compiuiv would pnv
the wages asked for by the men and reinstate the car scrvire,
and that I)oth the City and the Company would agree to abide
by the decision of a Conimijisioiier to be appointed by the Provin-
cial Government to enquire into the economic an<l operating
conditions of the D. C. Electric. An ()rder-in-counciI was siib-
lequently passed by the Provincial Ciovernmerit upp.Hiiling Dr.
Adam Shortt, of Ottawa, sole Commissioner, who held sessions
in Vancouver and Victoria from July 16 to August 21, 1917,
and subsequently reported as follows.
■MM
Ottawa, November S, 1917.
Hox. H, C. BuwiTii,
Prime Minister of British Columbia,
Victoria, B. C.
Dbae Sii, — In accordance with the requirements of the com-
mission issued by order of the Lieutcnant-Governor-in-C'ouncil of
British Columbia, of date July II, Iffl'T, appointing me a Com-
missioner under the provisions of the Public Inquirieii Act for
the purpose of malting a full investigation of the economic
conditions and operations of the British Columbia Electric
Railway Company and subsidiary companies and of reporting
the facts found, with such recommemlutions as might be sug-
gested as the result of such inquiry, I have the honor to submit
the accompanying report, with the detailed returns required and
the evidence unil arguments submitteil and a summary of the
proceedings before the Commission.'
In accordance also with the resolution passeil by the
Vancouver City Council of flic lOlh of June, 1917, and roneurred
in by the British Columbia Elcilric Hallway Company, requesting
the Lieutenant-Governor-in-Coincil to appoint a Commission to
thoroughly investigate the question of transportation in the City
of Vancouver and surrounding districts and to decide definitely
at to the possibility of the street car scrsicc being maintained
in competition with the jitneys, and this resolution of the said
Council having been made "on the understanding that the British
Columbia Electric Railway Company and the City Council will
abide by the decision arrived at by the Commission," there is
given in the findings uiiil reco icndatiuns at the close of the
report a special decision on this subject.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
Yours sincerely,
(Signed) -Xdau Shoitt,
Coflimi/jionrr,
I. THE B. C. ELECTRIC SYSTEM
EXTENT, COMPOSITION AND FACTOM IN ITS CBEATION
'*, tul7T-,t- **"" '"'' ""* '*' ""'■-"-' '«'"• 'i »" Company.
hL^KtZi , ^- Z ""'"* '"•''''"""• ■"«« '»' condition, C»icA
I ^HE BrilUh Columbia Electric
A Railway Company is an Eng-
Iwh company, formed in 1897, »ith
Its head office in London, incorpor-
atetl under English company law and
registered at Somerset House. The
Company docs business in British
Columbia under a very broad license
from the Provincial Government,
<liited January 3, 1898. The power
of attorney (Exhibit 40) given to
the General Jfanager in British Co-
lumbia, llr. George Kitld, shows that
the Canadian management is fullv
authorized to deal with all matters
npcessary to the efficient control and
administration of all branches of the
public utilities owned and operated
by the Company in British Columbia.
Owing to the fact that the British
Columbia Electric Railway Company
acquired by purchase certain origi-
nal street car and gas companies in
Vancouver and Victoria operating
under provincial charters, the Com-
pany holds these properties subject
to the provincial charters. For the
further convenience of having the
power and light utilities conform to
the requirements of provincial law,
subsidiary companies whose stock is
fully owned by the British Columbia
Electric Railway Company were
formed to operate the power and
light plants on the Mainland and
Vancouver Island. Thus the Van-
couver Power Company and the y„n-
eouver Island Power Company arc
subsidiary companies of the Electric
Railway Company. The British Co-
lumbia Electric Rail' ly Company
cither directly or through subsidiary
companies owns and operates the
urban, suburban and intcrurban elec-
tric railway systems on the mainland
in the cities of Vancouver and .\ew
Weslminsler, the city and district of
North Vancouver and the municipali-
tioa of Point Grey, South \ancouyer
and Bumaby, as also the line run-
ning through various rural districts
and municipalities between New
Westminster and Chilliwack. On the
Island of Vancouver it owns and
operates the electric railway serving
the city of Victoria and the adjoin-
ing municipalities of Esquiinalt anil
Oak Bay and the intcrurban line from
t ictoria through the Saanich Penin-
sula to Deep Water Cove.
Through its ownership of the
stock of the Vancouver and Victoria
gas companies it supplies gas to
these cities, and through its owner-
ship of the Vancouver Power Com-
pany and the Vancouver Island
Power Company it supplies the mn-
jonly of the electric light and power
to the municipalities and districts al-
ready mentioned, on the mainland
and the island. The only other com-
pany supplying electrical power in a
commercial way is the Western Can-
ada Power Company, which, however,
does not operate in the retail (ielil of
domestic light and power.
The total capital investment of the
British Columbia Electric Railway
Company and the properties in which
it IS invested are shown in the con-
solidated balance sheet of the Com-
pany (E.\liibit 3) as of date the 30th
June, 1916, that being the close of
the last fiscal year for which financial
statements are available. This bal-
ance sheet shows that the stock of
■
■
a
■
t.
491,3ns
i;i,.52a,(isi
7.300,000
the Company U diriilcd into three
iiiual portions of fl,440,00<), or
«fi,!»H,000. Tlic lir.t portion i, the
5 per cent, cumulative preference
stock. t}(e second the preferred ordi-
nnry stock and the third the ikferred
ordinary •tock, the total stock
amounting to $S0,9S«,00O. The capi-
tal raised through hond or ilebenture
issues amounts to $a«,33.9,469, made
up as follows :
First niortg:igc 41 '. de-
,. Ii-"t""» '...,« 1,049,.540
t iincouver Power 4'.',
debentures "
Perpetual consolidated
4'- debenture stock . .
Perpetual guantntoed
41 ; debenture stock . . , „.,„,,^,
Tlie original ciipilal of the Cim-
pany is thus about e.|iiallv ilividrd
lietneen -hare capital and debenture
slock, corresponding in substance to
"hat are known in this ruiintrv as
shares and bonds.
.None of these capital issues were
made at a discount. On the contrary
some of them were issued at a pi-c-
nimni. Enquiry by cable to London
elicited (he information thol the
slocks and debentures had reolized
on the whole a premium of £34fi,ai.3,
or nearly one and a quorter million
dollars. In adilition to the capital
obtaine<l from the sale of shares ami
debentures, amounting to over $44,-
oOlMHM), during the more prosperous
vears of the fViinpanv a reserve fund
of ».1.062.988 was accumulated from
tlie earnings of the C.impanv. There
was set aside also for the 'renewals
maintenance fund .M.1.54.42S, and an
accident reserve fund of .'k.'i33,84a
was also accumulated. .As represent-
ing these reserve funds the fouipanv
has on hand in the shape of cash in
band, short loans and morketahic
securities $:i.-:i»M9, while the re-
mainder, amounting to .'fl4,S10,.596. is
invested in the ordinary assets of the
Company. .Adding these to the
$44,500,000 received on the sale of
the original capital .securities, the
Company has nearly $50,000,000 of
RirotT or D». Adam Skoitt
actual lapital invested in the enter-
prises of the Compony apart from
Its more or less liquid reserves.
When wc turn to the actual invest-
ments of the Company we And from
the consolidated balance .heel thai
the property, plonl, etc., of the
various undertakings are set down
under the heaa of "Property, Plant,
etc.," nt the sums which they' actually
cost the Company, and amount allo"-
■{ether to $47,238,277. The detailed
schedule of this property, plant, etc
gives the cost of the chief factor, in
the total holdings of the Company
(see Exhibit 5-.\). The conslituen't
eeuiDnts ore as follows: The hydro-
electric plants nl Coqi.illoin-ilunt-
zcn. Cold Stream and .Jordan River
••"St $11,774,173. The au.^iliarv
-team plants ot Vancouver and
Ilrentwood Day cost $I,SfiO.(!09. The
viertric snb-stalion anil trniisinissiou
lines fiiniishing current for local ilis-
tiibution, hut not including the di,.
tnhution system itself, cost .«4.2Hfi •
161, while the capital cost „f the
distribution system for light and
nower from the sub-stations amounts
lo $4,132,522. The chief items of
the electric railway system are
divided as between the street railway
and the interurhan systems. Unde'r
"Street Railways" come the cost of
track and overhead work, $4,577,431,
and rolling stock, $2,8fi4..S0a. For
the inlerurban systems the track and
overhead work cost $4,715,197 ;i„d
the rolling stock $9,059,704. Private
right of way for the interurhan sys-
tem cost .$849,9.53. Other items which
are partly eiiargeable to the hydro-
electric system and partly to the
transportation system are the follow,
ing: llachinery and tools in ear
shops, etc., .$«3,145: furniture and
fivtures, faro bos-es and loose nl.uit
$fi34,8.S8; buildings, including ear
bams, stores, etc., .$1,129,899: head
office and terminal buildings and
sites, $1,163,143: wharves, bridjtes
and towers, .$390,117. There are also
otus plants in Vancouver and Victoria
amounting to $2,610,601. The above
J
The B. C. EttcTRtc Sy«tem
propertk'9, whatever majr be said as
to their present value as compurcd
with their original coat, arc un-
tloul)tcdly essential factors in tlic
supply of such public utilities a»
transportation, power, light and
heat, iind the nti ^ -siiry capital ex-
penditure involved furnishes a. proper
basis on wJiich a reasonable return of
profit may be calculated.
CAPITAL I'SED FOB PL'BUC UTILITIKS
I!l SEOBEGATED
C'ertoin other capital expenditures,
however, are included in the total of
$47,!i3S,!i77, whicli, whatever inav be
their ultimate value to the t'oiuptuiy,
either us separate investments or for
subsequent use in connection with its
plant, yet under present conditions
cannot be accepted as part of the
capital employed in the service of tlie
public ami tlieroforc as a basis for
reii-ionable profits. Amooff tbi"*e
items are certain undeveloped w.ittr
pDWi-rs at the Jones and rhilli.vafk
lakes, ohtaincfl at a cost of 8;JHS.KU
and which bad been secured in view
of posjtib'e future tlemands for liydro-
electric power. Obviously untiltlu-sc
properties arc developed they cannot
be made the basis for ii payment nf
profits. Of a similar nature are the
properties at Hastings Townsite and
Ebiirne, purchascil for prospective
Ras works at a cost of $619,543: the
\'aneouvcr station site, costing
$147,304: the lands adjoinin«
various rights of way, $H11,003, and
other lands which arc held for sale.
obtainc<i at a cost of $(>20.744.
The Royal City Mills property,
purch. I for frciglit yanls, is now
partly used and partly leased for
. shipbuilding purposes. The cost of
tlio whole nmountcd to $631,036.
Half of this may be fairly included in
the capital required for the service
of the public. Finallv, there is an
item of $1,488,538, which i.s stated as
representing expenditure unallocotcd
when the properties of the previous
companies were purchased in 1897,
and which was probably taken to
represent the natural increment in
value of these properties since their
original purchase, when Vancouver
and Victoria were much smaller cen-
tres than at prcs'>nt and values much
lower. Other part* of the property
taken over, howcTer, arc tloubtless
worth much lest than their original
cost. At tlio present time, when
values are so uncertain, and i.i de-
fault of more detailed information
than the records can furnish, it will
not he unfair to allow the increases
and decreases in value to offset each
other, and to treat this sum as not
to be itxciudcd in the property of the
("ompany. The total of the* capital
items, therefore, which cannot be
accepted as a fair basis for the esti-
ma .' of dividends, will amount to
$3,783,460. This reduces the total
of the item for propcrtv, plant, etc.,
from !it47,a3»,277 to " $43,446.81 6.
This, then, may be taken as the
actual capital investment of Hie Com-
paiiy in its various public utilities of
electric power, light and transporta-
tion ami gas, and the returns from
which may be legitimately expectLti
to furnish a reasonable dividend after
meeting the fixed charges for nil ile-
benture capital and paying the
legitimate costs of operation. As
will be shown below, the Company has
certain obligations to meet "with
reference to leased lir..s, extra power
obtained from the Western Canada
Power Company, the percentage of
gross earnings payable to the City
of Vancouver, all of which will have;
to bo taken into account in arriving
at the net earnings of the Company.
As already indicated, the other in-
vestments of the Company, whether
in the stocks and bonds of other cor-
porations or in real estate for sale
or for prospective expansion of the
Company's plant, cannot be regankd
as legitimately affecting the rights
and obligations of the Company with
reference to the services rendered to
the public, the rates charged for
those, and the earnings which they
J
10
Hkpoit or Di. Adam Shoktt
supply to the treasury of the
C'ompnny.
The urcaa served Uy the Company
group thenihfivcs naturully into two
iiinin divi»ionJi: (1) that' centering
in the City of Vancouver, on the
mainland, and (2) thot centering in
the City of Victoria, on the Island
of Vancouver. The mainland area
again, while all supplied with light
and power from one chief plant, the
C'oquitlam-Buntzcn system, and while
the transportation system virtually
centres in Vancuuvc /, yet mav be sub-
divided as regard!, trnnsportution
and the distriliution of power iind
light into ccrtoin distinguishable
areas, which may bo defined as (1)
the city area of Vancouver and its
immediate suburbs in Point Grev,
South \'ancouvcr and nurnahy. aiid
which may be named the \'(incnnvcr
district; (H) the intcrurimn sy«itcm.
inchiding the three intoruHian lines
to N'eK- Westminster, one of which
also ser%e<i Lulu Tsland. and the more
extensive line through the eastern
Fraser Valley from N'cw Wovtminster
to Chilliwack; and (3) the city and
district of Xi-.th Vancouver, which,
while separated from Vancouver City
by Burrard Inlet, including Van-
couver Harbor, is nevertheless closely
connected with the City of Vancouver
as regards its residential, economic
and other transportation interests.
On the Island of Vancouver the Vic-
toria district may be treated us a
unit, although it includes in addition
to the city area of \'ictoria itself the
suburban mimii;ipalities of Oak Itav
and Esquiiimlt and the adjoining
rural area of the Snanich Peninsula.
iXTElcorasE between- Mrxirip.\i.i-
TIES AND CITY ESSEXTIAI.
Taking the mainland system first,
the most cfsentir.] fact to be recog-
nized is that though the City of
Vancouver and the circle of munici-
palities which adjoin it arc separate
and independent corporations, vet in
point of economic and social relations
the citizens nf these municipal areas
constitute iji reality one single and
intcrdepi'micnt centre of population
and business. Were the constant
intercourse between the various parts
of this common social and business
area inter'-uptcd or substantially
impaired, the most serious conse-
quences would immediately result.
Less than a cmtury ago, chieHy
for lack of constant intercourse
through convenient and permanent
means of communication, most muni-
cipalities were more or less com-
pletely independent units, trading
with each other and the outside world
on-+lie basis of external exchange.
Within a few decades past all this has
been change*!, mainly through the
services which are now supplied bv
such eorp<irations as the Itriti^'h
Columbia Electric. In the district
of Vancouver, as elsewhere, thousands
of citizens reside. in one municipality
while earning their living in another.
Thousands of others depend for a
large part of their income upon the
sale of goods and services to the citi-
zens of adjoining mim cipali*;f>s.
wliile in their turn depend.n|i{ upon
the supplies and services of other
citizens in other parts of the same
circle of municipalities. Again, hun-
dreds of citizens of one or other of
these municipalities live entirely by
maintaining the means of intercourse
and distribution between them. It is
impossible, therefore, for any of these
municipal corporations, and more
particularly for the City of Yun-
couver itself, to treat the essential
elements of intercommunication bc-
tweoii Hicni as matters in which tiiiv
lire not vitally interested, financially
and otherwise. The mere fact, there-
fore, that the legal relations of tJR- .
municipality of Vancouver City to
the nriti.^h Columbia Electric Rail-
way Company are specified in a char-
ter which itmorcs tjie wider relations
and obligations of each and the w'uhr
ar?as beyond the arbitrary and acci-
dental limits prescribed for the city,
cannot justifv cither or both in ig-
noring in point of fact or in practice
The B. C. Euctiic SriTEii
n
the aclual unity of the larger urea of
population nnd economic interest.
Moreover, tlio more intelligent and
far-sightcU ciliitns of tliia civic
centre should not permit the Icmpor-
arv corporate interests or jealouiio
of the present municipal subdivisions
to jeopardize their own larger vital
interests, or those of the Province of
British Columbia, the Dominion of
Canada, or the British Empire.
11 appeors that a substantial
recoRnition of these fundamental
considerations was expressed by a
former municipal government of
Vancouver City. Towards the close
of 1910 the Mayor and Corporation
of the City uf Vancouver, recogniz-
ing the essential unity of interests of
the population of the urban area
tributary to Vancouver, approached
the directors of the British Colunihia
Electric Railway Companv with a
view to tlic uniBcatiiin of 'the fran-
clli.es under which the Company
■ipcfaterl throughout Vancouver and
its .uburbs, and as part of a scheme
for the incorporation of this whole
area of greater Vancouver under one
civic corporation. The Company ex-
pressed its willingness to fall in "with
such an arrangement and agreed to
the condition that the City might
purchase the street railway system
throughout the larger area' in 1934.
The scheme, howes-er, appears to
have heen wrecked on some details
ant. has not been since revis-cd.
Keeping Oefore us, however, the
fact of the larger interests involved,
it is necessary to set forth briefly the
essential features of the various 'indi-
vidual franchises or agreements
under which the British Columbia
Electric Railway Company carries on
its public services within the Van-
couver district. These agreements
are given in full in E.vbibit i.
The niriwment lietWMn the Citv of Vna-
ernivrr .ml Ihe Ilrill-h Cohiml.ln Electric of
IJrtob^r 14, 1901. ran.olhUtni the street rail-
way fniachlsrs of the Tltv. the Com-
r«n>- havinit prr.loosly opcrntal ,ll»c„at
parts of their system within tlie Citv uniler
varioiis azreemrnts (Intlnjr from IBHfl'to ISO!)
The Coa«.li,h.tr<l Ili.ilway anj Light Com-
nsnr. wlilch W.1 taken over by Ih. Britbh
Calumbla Elcetrie KsUwsy Company, had
acquired, constructed and operated under
authority ot various pravlnclul acts sod un-
der af reemenu with the cftks of Vancouver '
snd New Wntminsler the street railways
In those cities. Under the Vancouver by-
taw ol October 11, liMl, the British Ci.lumbu
Electric la given the rlfhl for . jHiteen
yeara from February 11, WOI, and lor aoy
period of renewal that may he ipnnted. to
equip, maintain and operate u sinile or
double track street railway, with all liecesa-
"ry equipment, an the streets of llie city
The usual 4s>nditions were nude with refer-
ence to the location of the new lines and
„,|.. ' I? f temporary and permanent
tracks, the Company lieln| required to lav
ana maintain a permanent road-iied to th'e
satisfaction of the city ofleials, between all
lracl|. antl to, eight Inches on either side.
within the city limits, and ail p«s«nirers
ZZ V .'° ,""""" 'l^l" -'""" these
limits. Infants in arms were to lie carried
free, ami sclmol children under twelve years
ot half fare, on school doys between clihr
and Ave o'clock. Tree passes were to be
Jtrantejl to the .Mavor and citv olllclals nnd
topolicemen and firemen in uniform. The
,S 1 , '■"' "" "'" " """I eight
miles on l.uslne.. or ten miles on resi.lentl,,!
. leets. On certain streets the car, sh,>uld
run at not ess than ten-tolnute Intervals, on
Tk. m . '.""•"'.'■"■Inute intervals, and on
the tteitminster branch between Ave ond
seven p.m. every half hour, and at
r, ISven ."L '".7 ^"- T"" Company
Is given the option of running cari or
not between midnight and sis f.m. With
m^v'JL"'" °'„""' '=''"""'• »» Company
may open new lines on other streets, the
Lompany to liave the option for sisty days
of opening u line on' any street wtere
another Company or the City Itself propi^
oS'S' ",!!?'• T'«coj,p.nv,rir?:5
to the City of Vancouver the following iSer.
™ipts within the limits of the citv.
Heceipts under U7J.O0O i ner cenl
Between STS.OOO and S1M.000 , . . .3 E', ™|
Be ween »130.*» and ,<aoO,000 . . .3 ~r ceM
Belween JMLOOO and »WO.OM ..iKJ™ ■
Between WtW.TO nnd .Sl.000.000 . .5 Ur ce
Be ween «.<»«.■ jio and Kl.iOO.OOO.O Ser cent
Be ween flM.m „1 lB.ooo.coo.9 fj ""i
At the ..si.lralion of the term of the ap-^
rL?,h ."'"?; "-, ""») "» Citv ma"™
ttet™ -.r"','. '"'?" "» '"Pliition of
the term, either alter the terms of the agree-
assume the ownership of the lines of tl,^
perTZ."'-' ■'" '" 'J'^ "">""• """ "ll p'-
perty pertaining to these lines. The valua-
^.^^1.'' '^ Company, or, on' falh.Je to
'Z^nli^,'' '." """"' 'V aelillratlon under
It » ^'."» ',™" ^'« a'Wtrators to »,
the market value of the lines to lie taken
over, cscluslye of the Improvements on hem
mpro,.emenls and personal property o b,^
valued separntelv ami on the liisls „r ,h'
cost of the same to the C^W^any? ." git 5'
mtmt
m
Kipo»T Pit Di. Adam Shoitt
* ""™»W« •"" 'or drpreclatlon. Th«
rftltintlon. however, not to inrluile Mnv pnv-
nwnt (or rriiuhtw or »oo<l-.IU. The CItv
sluill tale elfhl niDnlhs .rier the raluatlo^
to nmipj.'le tlieliurrhue. hut l( II <lne> not
mere M It. option .t the time. It mar do so
or .Iter the term. „( the .|ireement at the
enij of ever>- Ave year perlm] after the e«-
plrallon of the charter in ^.1., one ,ea".
nntlee Should ,„ citr take oJer thi i"
viee .Ithin It. o.n limits the Compan, mar
« 111 operate the lnl,i^rt»n line W|,^J
\ uncou.,, and Xe. We.tn.ln.le, a. SJ
he nitreement of IMl. Any dl.pule „. to
the tern, of thli nprnment to l» .eitled
hvarhitratloo under the Arbitration Act.
Ulile umler thI. amrement of looi. ,S
Prevloii. ..reement. Iietween Iwg ,,„,| |,m
«ere c.iuylled. jet thI. w„. „„t ,„ allcct 'r
rljhn power, or prl«lle|m jrantea to thi
C,™,pan.v in I,, orlirtn.l aet.'of Ineorpo"
1 ?;. til r""" " "" '^">- "' ^-""""ver
to tax the Company . property.
HA.STIXO.S TOWXSITE
In 190H a ipeclol agreement »n. entered
JSd. ."oTi- f""'",""' C"mml,.l„„„ of
Land, and Uork. and the B.C. Electric
nail.ay Company In ,el.,|„„ ,„ ,ii"'™
°ltrw"h?h''i""" '"T" " '>">i"»» T„Z
llirT,.. , t-"' """ '■"" lororporalcl „|ih
te rli «nrou,er. In ,hl, arraoBcment
111. Z7 ■■ """ '"■"'"'"^ "• li"in|i the
tiatetl Railway Companv'. Act of laihi l„
fmlltles the Companv «|„eed to f.irnl.li
author. e<l to con.tni.t. maintain and oner-
wllh .hJ „'i °' ''"""'! ""'■ '""' r^itaav
S;;te'-t.:S;s^£;e"e
track, tiTfltmrnt of streets an.) th* ■
1W^ .hlch I. placed X'iCt 'm^ie.'^;
XI5«- WEST.MI.VSTEn
ore .n the main the u.ual one. In ."* c '™s
:^riJ"S;KC^H'r
p;rK^oU^£.rir3
and the fate to Ave cent.. After the tNin.
.peclll«l .ireet, „, „||„wi„, „,, , ^
K'eMtan "i""- .]':'"" '■' l"l"'o li "«
lo«er than « nor hither than 130 feet.
.iKreements were h1» made with the muni-
cipal corporation of Point G„v. ,h, ji,;;s,
ol .North \aneoui'er. .South Vancmver,
llumal., and the Town.hip of ChduS
jrantin, to th. D.C. Electr c llallw, , O.m-
I"i.y the U.U.I ,l,hU for the eoi Voe ta
-nU operation 0, .Ireet railway H^X
the loiuil ,.„m|||l„n, »if,|„a„| „, ,he ci,h i
.iHl ™n,enlence. of the >a,lou,'o,unlci|»i;
referinl to. it will be neccMin- to i.le only
muulc7;:ilt'v'"" " "'''"■'■ '" "■"■'' '""""'2
POINT GRP.Y.
The aireement with Point Grev I, il.iled
.Septemlier w, ISIJ. „„j continues (or he
perl,«l of 3T year.. The llrst li.^M, "con!
.traded are .peelAe.! In the .i|tree,nert. "
minimum JO-minule »r.lce I, rcpiir,;! In
-I^cifyln, fare, the munlclpnlliv i. ,11, hied
o ,) lie „ mii.lmiim fare „( Ave ,cot,. Srcc-
,", .! '"' P*nminent r,.,„leMts of the
moolc iMlltic. known «, .clilcr,' tl,kc ..
Mh ,,,„. and wi„,"'rl;;v;"i:';:r,'it
., ■ - -.J M>efial cLiiise provhie. (h,,t the
.ccllon of Poin, Grey a,lj„i'„|„, ,he CitV oj
.hall ™io.v the ,ame rates no.l tr.insfer. a.
pr.iall ,n \ancouverCitv. The Companv is
'ok",'" , "" """ "> "l"'"'" '" flhT car.
men "of'^l""'""''"'"-'' '"" ""' "> '>''•''<"■
ment of the pciaenner .ersice. .Shoul.l the
I .anpany not comply with ll,c coa.lltlo,^, „"
the »,reemenl In fallln, to openile for\".
month, any portion of the ,| Jiflcl lla" tZ
franchise of the Companv shall ij forV^ited
over hat portion wh'lch'lt (all. to ope ,^
ave'tt L",r" ;'. '!r ""■"«r«lit.v'.h U
naie the option of taklni; over, at a vali.a-
.on under arhitratton. such portion" rf the
,™ I property, leavio,, the .trect in
.»>nnol condition At the espirali.m „, , ,e
h II h '"ri"" r'." •""' '" rnrporaiL;
r,!r,i^;i^r:;;:^r:'^;dSm:; '
NORTH V.INCOL'VER.
The aureement with the Di.trict of North
s .incooier. now including the cItv of North
V.,,coo,er and the remainder of "L D ,-
trict. Is ,l,te,l looo „„,[ ,, , |,,'" " '"
eorporation o( the District and l',e Va„"„ .'j;
eTs;v?frSTarir^h"-'''"^'"»
The &■ C Klectbic Syhtcm
19
i>haU be run » fur Bapoikllile to connect with
the munklpal fern* icnlce to Vuncnurer ut
IntcnuU iif ntit more than half an hour from
.Mav to Smemlicr nntJ one hour iJurlng the
rest ^t the j'e«r. Single Urn were not to
exceed Ave eenli within three mite^ of
Loaidule Avenue M'hurf. with five <Tm^
extra for everj- Hildllinnal two-mile nrea l<e-
yond the first "««ne. The Company ii ((rnnt-
ed un exrluiive franchise for a itreet railway
within the district for fifty ycirs ut the end
of which period the niunicipil cnr|»ratiun
has the right to purchase the Company's
Unci or lo excrclae that rlnht ut any Niicceed-
Ing ten-year i«ri'jd. The Company U grant-
e<l exemption from municipal taxation on all
its real nnd personal property for ten years,
to IQU.
SOL'TH VANCOL'VEn.
The ogreement with South Viincotiver
dutei fmniiLWHt and U illre«-tly with tiie
n. C. Klrctric Ituilway Ciini]Hiny. 'I1ic fntii-
chiNc exteiids for forty year*, with riyhl of
renewal, 'I'lie streetn un which the firxt
trnrk^ ore to lie laid nre -(trcifie*) iind the
u«uul condithina im to oonttnictlon. in'iiiiten-
ance and nymit of »treet. frM)uenry of ler-
vlcc. fjires, pns»*-s etc. TIte frmchiN*- cover"
freiflht and iMiisen^r service. .\t the rnd
of the forty-year fmncliise the ririvinitton
hn* tlie riitht' to t;ike over the \v.tem ut ii
viiluuliun or to tlo so ut lite end ol' each Icn-
year period thereiifter. As in the rluuse of
North ViincoMver, tl»e Ortupnny fnjoys ex-
emption frntn taxation for ten yexrs on its
real ami perKonal property. N'o pitrt of this
•frreementt however, including the clause
with reference to tuxntiun, applies to the
V(incou»'er and New Westminster Inter-
uriian railway or any other line im a private
right of way of the Company.
BL'RNABY.
Tlic aitrcement with nurnitltr is datril 1913
and Is directly with the Ilritixh Culumiiia
Electric Kailwny Company. The first afrcce-
ment'wn.i made in KNIU, but. some doulits
existinfi as to Its legal validity on iici'ount of
not having I>een sui>mitteil t > tlie ratepavers
the agreement of 1913 was pusse<l anil a{>-
proved by the ratepayer^. Tlie Company
has the general right to construct lines on
any of the streets except Kingswny between
Central I»ark and EdmoniK. Two specifie«I
lines are tn lie constructed, one un Hastings
Street for t»o miles from the Vnmwiver
ritv limits, and the other from the terminal
of'the C<mi]Mny's line on Columliia Street,
New Wevtmint^ter, along that street nnd
North Road to the Junction with Clark itnad
OS soon as settlement warrants. The location
of other lines to tw approved by council.
.Most of the features of the "greement
follow the u«ual line.s. The fare are limit-
ed to five cents within three milts from the
western iH>undarr and an additional five cents
within every additional two miles. Perman-
ent settlers, however, enjoy the same rights
as on the New Westminster tnter-urhan line
for the same distances, and with the same
transfer privileg . The agreement covers
Imth freight an. passenger service. The
charter runs for 36% years, with the option
of p* rchait then or at the end of any subse-
quent ten-yeur period. Failure to operate any
[lortlon of the lervice for six months will
entail tiic sanie conae^ucnce as In the Point
Grey agreement.
CHILLIWACK.
The Chllllwack agreement ia between th«
township corporation and the Vancouver
Power Comminy under the tenni of the
Provincial Water Ai:t. Th« agrMOtent
datet froir 190T and authorlict the Company
to conatnict and operate as part of tbt Inter-
urban electric railway system extending
from New Westminster to Chllllwack an
electric railway in the township of CUUH-
wack with Hingle or double track, for lioth
freight and passenger service, on tlie right of
wiiy of the Compiiny except where it Is
neceuory to operate along, acroas or over
the roads or -streets of the municipality,
which it I* autboriaed to do under tlie usual
term* in such cases. Wlwre. liitwever, the
Company finds it necesoury to u>e a muni-
cipal bridge it must lie itrengllicned if
iieccsstry at its owns expense. Passenger
farci after a. minimum of five cents sbiill
not exceetl four cents p«r mile lietwren bKiil
iiniiits or three cents )ier mile within tlie
limits of Cbilliwack and New Westminster.
The Company shall cn|iiy exemption frnm
taxation on its real and jierii>nul property
for ten years. It is granted an exclusive
franchise on the mads used by it anil has
the first o])tion for the biiilding'of any other
lines deslrcti within the municipality.
LL'I.U ISL.VNI)
The remaining lines o|)er'ited In- the H. C.
Company, the Kitsilano, Lulu Island and .
Kliurnc lines, belong to the Canadian Pac-
ific Railway, through Its ownerslilp of
certain subsidiary eompanirs, and are leased
from that company by the D. C. Electric
under an agreement providing for the otieru-
tion of these lines a^ ,n electric tramway,
the electric equipment and power to be
supplied liy the II. C. Klectrie Railway Om-
piiny under s]>eclal terras of the iigrrement.
The lust agreement, of October Jfl. imtfl,
supersedes certain other agreement.s made in
mn and liXti. To protect Its own require-
ments the C. P. R. stipulates that the R.r.
Klectric agree to the operation of a freiiriit
service over the line from Granville Hridgc
to Kitsilano and to Steveston. on Lulu Idntid
via Kburne. and from Khurne tn New West-
minster. No freight cars lielonging to unv
other railway company than the C. P. It.
shall be taken over these lines wlthmit the
consent of the C. P. R. nor can the electric
railway Company carri- over these linet iiny
freight or passengers from any riiilwav in
competition with the C. P. R. For the' u>c
of the lines specified tlie B.C. F.lectric
agrees to mnke an annual pavnient of
:?>.I.iK)0 for tne first ten vears, dating from
.Tune 30, 1910, and .'^,000 a year for
the next eleven years. The agreement
extends for twentr-one rears from Julv
1, 1909, with the right of renewal
for another twenty-one years on twelve
months' notification i>y tlw B. C. Klec-
tric. The terms of the renewal sliall lie
14
Rrporr or Dr. Adam SHOiTT
tlh lUB* rwept ■■ to the Annual pa^nientt
whirh may b« rcadjuilcd by airrwrnciit or
■ rbltraOon. U'li*n the a(Krment uttlmatelr
fndi the C. P. n. «hall repay the liletrtflc
Comoany th« actual coit, wjthoul Intercit.
of all branch exteiuiona. double trnck*, etc.
Should the C. P. R. decide to continue th«
operation at the road bv electrical power, jt
may take over the electric equipment at it«
eiilitinf value, but If not. the B. C. tlectri.-
may remove It* electrical plant und Miuip-
ment. Special whedulei refer to charites for
■witching, rental of can and iwitchei to
special manufacturing planta. etc. The
operation of these line* U lubject to the
Dominion Doard of Railway CummiHiont r».
c
II. PERIOD OF EXPANSIOX AND DEPRESSIOX
REACTION FOLLOWING BOOM SEBIOVSLY AFFECTED C03IPANV
Dr. Shortt findi it lurpriting that tkt Company did not more fully outrun
vhat trampireJ to be the permanent needi of the district,, such was the
expansion previous to IdJd. Unfavorable effect of falling revenue upon
Company's stock. Jitney adds further blow'
T TNDER tlicsc various agrccnicnU
v^ rcluting to the operations of
the Compuny on the mninliiml the
British Culumliift Electric Railway
Company hml rapidly huilt up an ex-
tensive system of urban and suburban
electric railways. T'lis wan encour-
agcil by the inducements held out and
the constraining influences of an
exceptionally rapid development cen-
tering in the city and district of
Vancouver. The intcr-rclatcd system
as it now stands is fully delineated in
the maps furnished by the Company
anducconipanyingthis report. When,
in 1897, the Company undertook to
develop a comprehensive system of
transportation for the Vancouver
district the population of the pity
and district was quite limited. In
1901 Vancouver and New Westmin-
ster contained about 3S,500 people.
With the era of development and
prosperity which set in immediately
after that time, through the increas-
ing influx of capital and population,
there resulted an enlargement of area
and an encouragement of enterprise
and speculation which had the nat-
ural effect of enlarging both the need
and inducement for an exponding
system of local transportation. The
British Columbia Electric Railway
Company thus found that it had en-
tered the Vancouver field at a very
opportune moment. Expansion was
not only permitted and justified, but
urged and demanded by all elements
of the population with ever (hcreas-
ing importunity. It was not suf-
ficient to build or extend lines as the
actual increase nf population re-
quired and justified a more extended
'■orvice. The lines were demanded in
oriler to meet prospective needs and
even to induce building and settle-
ment in suburban areas as yet very
sparsely settled. For years this
policy of expansion was not only con-
stantly urged upon the Company, but
in actual practice was being as con-
stantly justified.
Still the rate of expansion, though
without precedent anywhere else in
Canada, never seemed to salisfy
eitlier public or private demands. In
Exhibits 90 and SI will be found cor-
respondence, private and official,
urging ever more rapid extension of
the Company's services.
Living and operating in an at-
mosphere of such phenomenal growth
and optimism for upwards of fifteen
years, where, with the exception of a
temporary pause in 1907-08, almost
every year surpassed the last, both
in volume and ratio of expansion,
there is little occasion for surprise
that the Company expanded so rapid-
ly and so for. but rather that it had
not more fully outrun the existing
need.s of the districts which it served.
Early in 1913, when the driving
force of the boom was spent, the
s
Ciiiiipiiny wnn not unrcawnolily in
Hilvanrc'of the Jictuul requircm-nt*
of it* Held .. oporfttion*. Had the
i-xpAHiion in population and arcoi
viniplT ceu»*.-d at that time, and nor-
mal activity in husinus* continued,
tlic Componv would cviucntly Iiovc
had little difficulty in meeting the
aituation. Unfortunately, however, a
rather heavy reaction wt in. Popu-
lation '' iniihcd, activitie* in the
newer ili-.trictfi ccancd and with them
the prciftintf demand* for transporta-
tion of ntatcrials and workmen. Bu«i-
ncti shrank heavily even within the
more central nrcaii. While this re-
action and the accompanyinff re-
odjufttnicntA were in procw" the
great war liroko out, bringing with it
at once a paralysis of capital invcst-
liunt and an urgent dt-niand for iiK-n
nt the front and'cUewliero in the cast.
The exodus of population which had
alrcadv begun was thus very greatly
increased, solving, it !■* true, much
of the problcni of uncmploymi. I)ut
leoving stranded large investments of
capital which could not follow. On
the other hand, very little of this
invested capital was able, as in the
east, to profit by the rapidly expand-
ing demand for munitions of war.
Even where the west could supply
such needed articles as coal, timber
nnd fish, the difficulties of trans-
portation soon intervened to para-
lyze their resources. Later the very
dearth of transportation facilities
furnished one of the chief elements of
relief for the district in the eHtablinh-
mcnt of sbipbnildiiig. wliieh with a
few minor factors of war expenditure
and the distribution of very consider-
able sums in the aggregate to the
families and dependents of the sol-
diers ot the front, has of late per-
ceptibly improved the situation as
compared with the earlier years of
the war.
Obviously a street railway system
which, though one of the most ncccs-
aarv and permonent services in mod-
ern urb.-in districts, is yet wholly tied
to local nfcas, suffers exceptionally
from the stagnation of trade and
especially t'le ihrinkogo of popula-
tion, t'ndcr tlwte circumstance* the
B. C". EKctric found itself eontrontcd
with the maintenanco of certain ser-
vices in outlying districts which hiul
been opened' in response to the de-
mand for further extension, but which
extension had been arrested before
sufficient population had been estab-
lished to meet tne primary costs of
the service. In this connection it
must he remembered that long before
a sufficiently permanent population ii
scttlcti in ft suburban district the
street car traffic in that district moy
be both extensive ond profitable ow-
ing to the large number of workmen
to be carried to nnd fro, not to men-
tion the materiaU to Iw tran-»portcd
while the re-.i<lences .if the sulisequcnt
permanent population and the
streets, including water, scwiigc and
other conveniences, arc being con-
stnicted. Arrested development in
any suburban area is, therefore, a
very serious matter for the revenues
of a street railway line serving such
an area. At the same time those citi-
zens who have built their homes in
these areas and are living there in
the confident expectation that the
transportation line which was budt
to serve the district will continue to
be opcrateil, have substantial rights
which cannot be lightly neglected
cither by the street railway company
or their fellow-citizens in other and
more fortunate parts of the common
urban district, even though under
different municipal corporations.
This merely illustrates and empha-
sizes the fundamental principles in
the treatment of mmlem pvdtlic ser-
vices that the area occupiwl by a
common urban population must be
treated as a whole and the interests
of all elements in a population clus-
tering around a common civic centre
must he duly considered and safe-
guarded to the greatest possible ex-
tent. Where the service is rendered
by a public municipal corporation
the question is one of revenue and
1(1
HllfU»T Of Di. AOJM SlIoiTT
i
■
i
expcndituru kupplirmcntoti Uy tho
power of tuxutlun tu nwft thf tom-
p<*r»py or jMrmmivnt <l>Htit«. Wlwre
tho uTvirc it rcndiTcd l»y u privuto
rnrpnration. Kowvvcr. Hh- (i'i;:itiun i*
one of a Imluncu of ri-vr-nui.' and cx'
prnditure supplemented imly by nuch
reserve funda a* may huvo l>cen nc-
cumulatcdby the corporation to mi-vt
temporary deficit!, or by the fur-
ther borrowing; power of tho rorpora-
tion where it ftiU thnt temporary
lonnet may Ik? lUCccMfuliy offict b'
future (jnini under more favorabi
condition*.
In the li^lit, then, of (he economic
exporienre or the ptmt twenty yeiirs
within the district uf Viuicnuvcr we
may -urvey the Hituation of the
nriti-h ColiiriUiiti Klertric Ilail»iiy
Coinpiirty a* regards its eupitnl in-
vestnientu find itt (■(iM»oc|iu'iit revenues
and cxpenditurei.
COMI-Axv's »rv,\vri.\r, bktihnx ^Ultw
In K.\hihit H i<t prcMnted the rtm-
tolirhited income iiiitl fX|K'nditure itc-
coiint of the roriipttny frcm lUU to
191fi. Thij* ( i'liiinaten ull cros^
churtfet by on, of tlie company'-*
Hervicts to another, a* for iiMtniice
the charffci of the Power ('ompany
to thr Klectric Ujiilwny Company.
It rover-., however, idl the activiticn
of the Compnny and it^ iuhtiiliarv
yompiuiieH witliin tho province. With-
in the three yinr^ covered hv ihe
table the urn^'t eaminRx of the elec-
tric raihvMy sv-t.m liiul fullen from
!*-*.0:JTJ.'W to S(!i.4'J!).<)T3 — :i de-
crease of approximately HI per cent.,
the decrcii^e within the first year
beinji S.5 per cent. The proporti.m
payable to the City of Vancouver de-
creiiserl frmii $TD,0J?9 to .•*«J4.1H.l. or
over .l.j per cent., the decrcn^^e in tlie
fift year beintf over 3iJ per cent. At
the snme time the revenue from elec-
tric liuht, power and gnu dccrcaAorl
only IK per rent, in the two vcnrs,
or 10 per cent, in the first year. The
total revenue, deducting payments to
the City of Vancouver, fell from
*T.188.D«* to ^.VIO.VOS? in the two
yeurt, oi- n <lvrrcaae of Srt) (ht cent..
the decrease beini( ID |K>r cent, in the
fipil year. Opfratinc expcnn'ti on the
other hand decrcand from !(L'J.MflT.-
ail to *:i.0«H,*40 for the two year,,
or •.Ii((litly less than ft p«r 'cent.,
beinjf W per cent, in the first year.
Thus for these years the revenue fell
considerably more than the operat-
ing c.\|»enBes. After 4ettinff a-ide
the usual perrentn((c fo*" renew aN
and niuintcnanrc reu-rve, tlic net
revenue hiul fallen from M,*t*'!,.y\H
- in 10t*to$tt7.?.I8tfin !016. through
*l.an.H9(» in 11)1.^.
Computing the return on the ./ipi-
tal invested, as stated in the piili-
h-hed re|M.rt* of the Cumninv
( Kxhibit Ifi). iIr. prrrentaKc, for tiie
three yefirn ure a« follows:
1'"* 4.fi9 [KT r,nt,
^'•*^'i '.'.60 per cei '.
li"« y.M per rent.
On takin;: the totiil eupit.il .A-
pemled, a^ |{iven in Exhibit .1A. the
ftercentaffe for l!)l(i uould be only
l.H.1. A-* pointed out, however. miLh
of that expeniliture wi\* not c in-
ployed in the service of the pii'ilie.
Hence the allowable ciipitnl for pro-
fits wa.s reduced to $4;j.44«,8lfi. The
return on this Im.sis for IDlfl n-oiild
l>e practically S per cent. Ina»in»rch,
however, as tli.. amount retpiiml to
pay the interest on the bomis or ili-
benture* of th* Company amount-, to
$UM7,fWI, tlie mt income of the Com-
pany for lOlfi liein« onlv ^iMT.yiHtf,
there is a deficit of .SlUi.+iM) in n-m-
tion to the fixed eli,ir;fes for the vear.
there beinjf no return whateve'r on
the slmi-c capital of the Companv.
amountioR to about .'it21.00().{)00.
This deficit, therefore, must be drawn
from the reserve fun.ls. most of
which, however, ns we have seen, have
been invested in »ho plant of the C.mi-
pony. As n matter of f,ict, the Cum-
pany withdrew from reserve some
£70,000, or $;j.10.(MH), t . meet its do-
lienture charpfcs. As in indicatetl in
the camin««i for 1916-17 (see Kn-
hibit 3), the situation has improved
Pf-wroD iir KxrAKMow axd Dr.i'iir.Hiu»
17
•oiiwwti*! for tht eurniit ynr. Tin
carnjngi from IIm Vnncouvtr diitriel,
including ll» rlly iiid luburlMii linii,
wrrt ^rratpi for the dcvrn months to
M.ir »1. 19.7, th.„ for tht ™r-
ropondiiifi period to JUr SI, IBlg,
by «ia«.4N4, or o»<.r I« per cent,
.tllhough the rtlum» (or June of Ihii
ye«r will bo mittriilly nireeled \>j tho
•Irike, jret the componjr mmy be able
to meet ita Died eharnt> for the year.
At the present time, howerer, it it
not iii|Uc>lion at to whether the Com-
pany c'.n pay diiidendt n tht
mott moti.'tt proportion^. i„. wht-
ther it ran maintain an equilibrium
between income and Axed cliarget. In
Exhibit g the lotalt of the conaolt-
dutcd income nnil expenditure ac-
count given in Kxhihit H are divided
for thi year !9I(i ai lirtween the
mainland and Vancouver iNlimd. Tliia
division indicates that the -tituation is
considernlily worse for the Company
on the milinliind than on the islanii.
The percentage of net revenue on the
mainland liuinjj somewhat less than
one-half that on the island, a more
detailed division is given of tlic gross
carnin,{s of the whole system as given
in Exhibit » for the three years end-
ing June. 191B. This dis'tinguislics
the gross earning derived from each
municipality. It distinguishes also
between the passenger and freight
servicei of the railway and between
the supply of light and commercial
power. The gas earnings arc also
treated separately.
OKEATEST AECUNE TOOK PL.KCE ON'
XAILW.^V LIXEt
From these details it is evident
that the greatest decline in the two
years has Iwen in the railway pas.scn-
ger service, amounting to 40 per
cent., apart from the Icaied C. P. R.
line to Lulu Island and .Vew Wost-
n inster. The heaviest declines have
hwn in the Vancouver City and \cw
AVestniiu^tcr interurban. The former
amounted to 44 per cent, and the lat-
ter to 48 per cent. The percentage
of decline in freight rates wis little
mort than one-l 'f that in tht pai-
i«i(l«r rates, being «ll/(, ptr «it.
This was almost entirely dut to a dt-
elint in the .New Weitmintltr inttr-
urban, which amounted to ST ptr
etnl., and the Lulu ItlansI lint at 41
per lent. Tlw Fraatr Valley lint
from Vew Westminster to Chilliwaek,
having the mott important freight
•tr»ie«, slightly inereaied lit incomt,
whilt tht Saanich lint practically
held its own. Tht ineandetcent and
■tiwrt light eamingt fell tO p^ cent.,
the chief declines Wing in Vancouver
and district and North Vancouver,
amounting to S« per cent, each, while
tht Fraser Valley practically hehl its
own and Vancouver Island declined
II per cent Commercial cK'ctric
power fell only 101:. per cent., that
lieing the rate of di-clint in Van-
couver and district, while the Fraser
Valley declined gOl .j per cent.. North
Vancouver 14. anil Victoria and New
Westminster IS per cent. each. The
returns from gas in Vancouver and
^■ictoria both fell about 30 pir cent.
From these returns it is plain that
the most serious financial embarrass-
ment to the Company during the
past three years hat iome from its
passenger-carrying or street railway
»ervirc, and thai the heaviest losse".
were incurred in Vancouver City and
the New Westminster interurban ser-
vices. .As we shall And, it is .just here
that the jitney opposition has been
the most severe.
Exhibit n presents in both tabu-
lar and graphic form the gross earn-
ings and the numlier of passengers
earned in the Vancouver district sec-
tion of the electric railway for each
month from July, 19Il', to .May,
1917. These tables and chart, exhibit
certain interesting facts. In the first
place It is evident that the maximum
business of the Company |,„d l,„„
reache.1 in 191S. There was a per-
ceptible falling off in 1913. which ch-
veloptd more rapidly in the latter
half of 1914. the decline taking on n
special character after the appear-
ance of the jitneys. Before the advent
IN
WnwnT or D«, Adam >iHaiTT
s
t
of >'» jilncr or, in .\ovniili.r. 19M,
il 1. found thai Iho maximum number
of pa<inigtr> rarriiil .arh »ar
octjrmi in tha midiummar mo'ntli.
of July and Augu.(, irhilc Iho lownl
number rcre carried in mii(«inl..',
™p~iallr in February. Uocrmbtr,
»ilh iu holiJajr monmait ami .hop-
ping, inrariablr ihownl a lamporarr
rcvi.al aflor Iha autumn iktline and
bafort Iha midirinter drop. WIko,
how.var, the jilneyi appeareil in th-
•eene Uiere waa in the dr.l pluce a
rapid falling off in the number of
pa.Mngcr. carri«l at anv lim , and
in (he .crond place it i.' found that
llie LAnplional midaummer inrronae
hiid vanialiol and that inatemi th»
(jreateal palronilgo of the rara oc-
eurre.1 during the irinter, wlun weu-
llier ronililiona were unfariirulile for
"l«n-.iir ri,lin«. Thia i« one of the
numeroii, atriainn evidinee. pre-
-■nl..l of tl,e eftela of ll,e jitno,
rom|K'tit>on on tlie eiiniinua of !!«.
t'ompuny'. »triel roiUuv .y-tei .
eapeeially in llie City of Vimruuver.
The i'xperiinre of Winnipetf la .imi-
l»r. (S«. Kshibit I.M.) The t„bl,;
and chart of Kxhibil I* give the
Jtroaa carnin(j» of the railoar depart-
ment, pnaaen|p?r and freight, for the
»nole -yalem, Vaneourer laland in-
cluded. It exhibita much the aame
movement aa the previoua chart, with
evidence of auhatuntlal improvement
for the eleven montha to the end of
May, 1917. The lablea and cborta
in Kxhihita \3 and U liiilieale verv
clearly the extent to .hich, in the
rn.l.ay department of llie Compuny,
in the Viincouver di.tricl iind on the
entire ,y»teni, opiratin(j expenaea
have ove.laken and cxeenkil uroaa
earning. .Inre the itiiildle of 1!)U.
While the aituation h.id iiiiprovcil
aomeahat ,i„ce 191.1-lfi. vet up f,.
llie end of M„v, lillT, the r.lllaav
.vatem »«, .till „p, n,|i„g „t „ ,.„„•.
.iderahle lo.a, and the strike ,if .Tun;.
«-ilh the inereaae in -a-agea obtaincti,
did not Improve the aituation.
E.'ihihil 1.5 nreaenta the loa.ea on
operation for the Vancouver distilcl
durir.' Ih. laat Ihre. yeari, 'inder Ihe
lorm jf coal of operation and .am-
inija per car mil.. From lhi< ire Hnil
Ibat th. average eo.l of o|»rallon
per car mib for the var lUl.l 1«
-•aa «).»•» cent.. WhileVor ll„. , leven
montha to .Mar, 1 91(1. 17, i| »„
W.T7, y,l the earning, for thea,
period. ,,r, only 17.17 and 19 cent,
reapectively. Th. car mileage .ipar-
alial on Ihe dilfennl .ecliona of tlie
(ompany'i linca for Ihe veara lull
to 1916 i. given In E.-hibit M. Here
again .. find that loe ear mileage
earning, reached their maximum l„
nearly all caaea in the vcar 191:1-14,
ileclming for the next t'ao vearv The
only exception, acre Hie ( itv of Vic-
191.Vlfl. and (he Saanuh I'enin.ula
line .|,,,|, r,„e|ied th,- ,„ax|„,„m ,„
9 4-l.V A. before, the g„.„,e,,
lallmg off I. aliuan j„ n,,. j.,,,^ „j
Uncouver City and .iibiirhan and
Ih.- \e» Woalmln.ler iiitcnirbiin.
F.xhibil 16 give,. f„r ,\^ „,|,„|j. ^,,|,|
of the Company'. o|Krallon., Ihe
rapilal inve.t,,|. ||,e „,., p„,„,, „„,,
the rate of income according to Ihe
puhliahed aecouni,, for the l.ii-vear
period from 190« l„ iDlfl. Aecor.1-
NiK to Ihia cell.. „ the maximum prolit
»aa reachial iu 19;m, .hen the rate
"■aa 7.88. From ,1 p<.rim| to 191fi
there baa been a . aly ateadv decline
♦o ,1J pa, cent, in 1916. Aa one
natural r™„lt of Ihe falling revenue,
of the Company and ila eon.e.|uenl
eniharraaaol financial oullool, the
aloeka and bond, of the C„„ip,,„v
haie fallen heavilv on the Lomhili
M|.ek Fxchange, where lliev are
chiefly known and dealt In. In K.^-
liibit S la given Iho market price of
the vanoua aloeka ami dehenlure.
laaiital by the Companv a. renorted
111 .Iiine of each year fi-oiii 1909 |„
1917. Theae quolationa .how that
ilioat of the .hare, re.ehed their
hiplieal value In Ign, when the de-
ferred ordinary .lock, of pur value '
ion, reached 130, the preferred ordi-
nary I«9 and Ihe .5 per cent, eiiml-
I'll !■ prefern.,1 US, ri,ing the
Period ov Expan'sion and Deprebhiox
19
folIowin{{ year to 11*. From these
pc-rioda of mttsimiim value they dc-
clincd steadily until June, 191 i, when
they were all itill above par, but fo.
the' next two years the decline was
very rapid, the deferred ordinary
reaching 39i_., the preferred onli-
nary 401 ;. and the 3 per cent, cumu-
lative MV-;. For the past year the
preferred ordinary has fallen further
from 40'- to 351/-. The debentures,
which of course arc not subject to
the same speculative inliucnccs as the
stocks, maintained their values fairly
well until 1913, after which they ile-
clined from about 13 to iO per cent.
The possible significance of this
heavy depreciation in such securities
will be dealt with later, but the f-.cts
are introduced here as further evi-
tlenco of the serious financial condi-
tion of the Company.
RENEWALS MAISTEN-ANCE RESKRVK
MORE THAN- jrSTlHED
It having been suggested that tlie
Company was setting aside an un-
necessarily large omount as a re-
newals maintenance fund, throe state-
ments were submitted by the Com-
pany (sec Exhibits 83, S-t and 23)
showing in detail the percentage of
reserve for each important item in
the plant and equipment of the Com-
pany. This arrangement, it is
claimed, is in occordancc with con-
servative practices obewhsre. Ex-
hibit 23 gives the total amount set
aside each year from 1911 t'> 1916.
the amount expended and the balance
added to the reserve, as also the total
reser^-e accumulated and which in
1916 amounted to $3,888,387. It is,
of course, in accorcjance with safe
and reasonable practice everywhere
that there should be a very consider-
able fund accumulated during the
early vcars of operation of a new
system, inasmuch as, while there is a
steady flecline in the quality of the
various items of the plant and equip-
ment, it will of course be some years
before the actual renewal must take
place, but when numerous replace-
ments are required, heavy charges
must be immediately provided from
the fund and the necessary reserve
cannot be obtained within a jcar or
two. In E\hibit 24 is given the esti-
mate of Mr. Conway, the Chief Engi-
neer of the svstem, in 1913, a* to the
amounts to be provided for Van-
couver district alone each year be-
tween 1913 and 1930. This shows
a total estimated expenditure of
$1,430,000 for the period, while the
omounts set aside annually for the
same period on the accepted basis
would He only $364,958. A compari-
son with tho rates made in other cities
more tlian justifies the Company in
the policy and practice adopted and
carried out in the accumulation of
the renewals mointenancc fund.
A special analysis of the cost of
o|KTation of tlie ilifforent sections of
the street railway for the month of
May. 191", is given in Exhiliit 34.
A separate stiitement of the chief
cost factors is made for cnch one of
the subdivisions of tho entire trans-
portation system. Tlicso subdivisions,
it may be recalled, are (1) the city
and district of Vancouver, including
the adjoining suburban municipali-
ties of Point Grey. South Vancouver
and Bumaby, (2) New Westminster
and the interurban lines connecting it
with Vancouver, and tho Fraser Val-
ley line to Chilliwack, (3) North
Vancouver district, (4) Victoria and
suburban, (5) the Saanich Penin-
sula. In each of these districts for
over two years past the earnings have
faileil to meet the cost of operation.
In operating expenses, lolior is of
course tho greatest factor. Tjikinjr
the section of Vancouver City and
district, we find that 35 per cent, of
the total outlay represents wages
paid to conductors, motormen and
trainmen. Other important labor fac-
tors arc included in tho maintenance
of way and of equipment, and the
work centering in tho car barns, etc.,
amounting to an additional 10 per
cent, and making approximately 45
per cent, for the cost of labor. The
RgpofcT oy Da. Adam Shoitt
Id
sL'cond item in importance is the coat
of power for the operation of the
lines, amounting to 81 per cent. The
rcnewak maintenance reierve comes
third, with IS per cent. Head ofHce
expenses account for 8 per cent.,
leaving about 13 per cent, for mia-
cellancous expenses, including S S/3
per cent, for the special contribution
to the City of Vancouver. In some-
what varying percentages this fairly
represents the general situation on
the other sections of the street rail-
way seri'ice.
In Exhibit 33 a tabular statement
is given of the comparative costs for
the years 1914 to 1917 of the chief
articles ond materials used by the
Company in the operation of its
various plants. The average an-
nual quantity of each article
required is also given. The total
costs for standard amounts of
the list of articles given shows an
Increase from .$07,166 in 1914,
through $73,296 for 191.5 ;uid
*92J73 for 1916, to .$119,.500 in
1917, or an increa.sc of practically
78 per cent, in throe years. During
the same period, on the pica of the
increased cost of living, the em-
ployees of the Company had secured
an increase in wages from September
1, 191.5, with an agreement con-
tinuing until .July 1, 1917. In the
autumn of 1916. however, the Com-
pany was asked for a special increase
in wages on account of the excep-
tional rise in the coat of living due
to the war. Tlicre being a substan-
tia! basis for the cliilm, an increase
was grantei] from Septeiiilier 16,
1916, although the revenues of the
Company by no means justified the
extra outlay. .4fter a winter of high
record war prices the employees in
May, 1917, made a further demand
for an additional war bonus. In view,
however, of the actual losses at which
the Company was forced to operate
its street railways, it declined to
grant the increase unless the revenue
could be improved. In this connec-
tion it drew attention once more to
the jitney competition as seriously
depleting its otherwise greatlv re-
duced income. While ucknowleiiging
the chief cause in the decline of the
revenues of the Company, the street
railway employees insisted on their
demands, with the result that a strike
was called, which led directly to the
negotiationa ending in the decision of
the Provincial Government to ap-
point the present Commission. Pend-
mg the report of the Commission the
extra wage rates deman.led bv the
employees were (granted.
JITXEV CITS INTO COMPIKV'S MOST
PROFITADLE BUSIN'ESa
In Exhibit ISO a general analvsis
IS given for each section on the main-
land for the year 1915-16 of the
capital investment, gross earnings
and operating expenses for the street
railway and the light, power and
ciHicr undertakings of the Company.
Tins shows that while a considerable
leveniie was derived from light, power
■ind gas, in each section of the Com-
pany's transportation business there
liad been a very serious deficit,
amounting in all to S.5.53,254. Of this
deficit no less than $300,701 was due
to the Vancouver section and the
New Westminster and Central Park
route, the regions of greatest density
of population and which therefore
oiiglit to have been most profitable
had they not also been the field in
which the jitney competition on the
mainland is entirely located.
As to the transportation business
of the Coinnnny, tliorcforc, it is ob-
vious from the ri'tiirns presontid, and
especially from the analyses given in
Exhibits 34 and 120, when taken in '
the light of the economic reaction of
the past few years that the revenues
of tl.e Company from its street car
system are far short of meeting oper-
ating expenses. This being so, there
is no question at present as to any
fair and adequate rate of profit on
the actual capital investments of the
Company, but simply a question as to
how it is possible for the Company
Peiioo or Expansion and Diprewion
to obtain sufficient income to enable
it to furnish those services to tlie
public which are indispensable to the
maintenance of normal social and
business life in an extensive modern
urban centre. Although the revenue!*
of the Company from the whole field
of its undertakings may show a very
moderate surplus, yet the street car
service must in the end stand on its
own basis, especially as it may be
necessary to revise the rates charged
in the other fields.
In the evidence presented before
the Commission the critics of the
Company have maintained on the one
hand that it has not exercised suf-
ficient energy and olacrity in meet-
ing the expanding needs of the popu-
lation of Vancouver and Victoria
areas, while on the other hand the
Company is niso accused of havinff
extondwl its scrvici's too widely and
rashly, thus involving itself in quite
unwarranted investments of capital,
on which the public should not be
'expected to pay dividends. While it
is impossible to reconcile such appar-
ent attempts to condemn the Com-
pany at any cost, yet it may he
obsen-cd that where practically all
elements of the community were in
error as to the real nature or dura-
tion of the boom which was in pro-
gress in British Columbia, the repre-
sentatives of the Company, even had
'thev been endowed with supernatural
wisdom, could hardly remain com-
pletely out of touch with the hopes
and expectations nf the public which
thev sen-ed. The wisdom of rotro-
st>cct should he more self-consistent
if not more charitable than indicated
in the efforts to condemn the Com-
pany, whatever course it took.
In the course of the actual expan-
sion of the street car system, both
within the original city limits and in
the extensions into the suburban
areas, it is quite evident that few, if
any, of the street car lines paid the
expenses of operation for some time
after they were opened. However, in
such swiftly expanding regions traffic
developed so rapidly for at least a
decade previous to 1913 that every
new expansion was soon quite vindi-
cated, until just before the period of
reaction, when there were, of course,
certain sections of the service which
had not yet reached the remunera-
tive stage, when they were left for a
time unavoidably unproductive. In
the case of such lines it might be said
that the Company, as in the case of
other unproductive cnterprint left
stranded by a receding tide* might
cither take up such lines altogether,
or at least abandon them while the
depression continued. Such sugges-
tions, however, raise very fun(?a-
mcntal questions with reference- to
the obligations of public service cor-
porations. The services of such cor-
porations having once been estab-
lishtd in response to the requests and
needs of tlic citizens in outlying por-
tions of modern civic centres, those
who have provided themselves with
permanent residences in full reliance
upon the continuation of services
which are of vital interest to them
would have a very real grievance
against any public utility corpora-
tion or municipal body which might
lightly deprive them of such indis-
pensable services. A corporation,
therefore, which has undertaken to
supply these needs has entered into
a practical, if not always a strictly
enforceable legal obligation to con-
tinue a service once established, even
through periods of depression anti
loss, so long at least as there is any
reasonable chance of maintaining the
service until better times return.
Should it be demonstrated that the
conditions of operation are such ns
to involve uniivoidalilc bankruptcy,
the service must indeed be abandoned
or the conditions of its continuance
revised. In such a case rather than
sacrifice the whole service the citi-
zens in the areas of unprofitable
operation may consent to have the
rates raised and the frequency of the
ss
Repobt of Db. Adam Shortt
r
m
I
n
i
I
I
I
aerviet! curtailed. It is to be aasumed
in such cuses that the public iiervice
corporation will practise the severest
economy consistent with the snfcty
of the public and the proper opera-
tion of the utility.
III. JITXEY or STREET CAR
JITNEY CANNOT TAKE STREET CAIl's PLACE, IS DECISION
Competitive automobile, laya Dr. Shortt, make$ it financitdly impouible
for atreet car service to continue. Jitney unable to meet requirementa of
tranaportation should electric railway be forced out of buaineta. Demoraliza-
tion of financial and commercial intereata would reault, and -n the end,
corporationt, not individuala, must fumiah tranaportation.
IT was found, however, that not
only had the Britixh Columbia
Electric Railway Company and the
general body of citizens served hy it
suffered from the natural and un-
avoidable consequences of severe
economic reaction and the exception-
al loss of population, hut at the very
period when these conditions were lic-
ffinninff to press heavily upon the
Company a new and altoifcther un-
foreseen factor suddenly emcrj;^ and
ai once seriously impaircA the al-
ready depicted revenues of the Com-
pany. This was the so-culled jitney
scn'ice, which suddenly entered into
active competition with the street
cars on the central, shorter, well-
paved and most lucrative routes. The
moment of their appearance was cer-
tainly not one in which capital for
providing a new and efficient service
could be readily procured. A pecu-
liarity, however, of this competitive
factor was that it Cfilled for tlie ex-
penditure of no noiv capital, hut sim-
ply the use of second-hand automo-
biles, vehicles of transit already
existing and for which neither sale
nor employment could l»c had in anv
other lines, while their owners were
for the time being without other
means of employment. The owners of
these automobiles were simply follow-
ing the example furnished in several
of the American cities of the Pacific
States, where certain possessors of
automobiles sought to supplement
their diminishing, or replace their
vanished incomes by carrying passen-
gers for short distances in their cars
at five-cent fares, this being the con-
dition on which they were able to
attract patrons. The name "jitney"
applied to this new type of public
vehicle was imported with the service
itself. Ft appears to have originated
in Loh Angeles, where "jitney." the
name of a small Spanish-American
coin, was a slang term for five conts
employed by the "barkers" or barrel-
head vocalists who vociferated in
front of the lower types of side shows
on midways, at fairs or suburban
amusement grounds. The name, once
applied to this type of automobile
service by many of its patrons, ad-
hered and in time was accepted by
the oper: rs themsch'os and em-
ployed to designate their more or less
loose associations for mutual benefit.
The tendency towards the extension
of the term to designate the more
stable motor bus ■iervi— ' in the larger
cities has been greatly resented, and
indeed there is not much in common
between the motor bus ann the jitnov.
In its initial stages the jitncv service,
depending upon no regular invest-
ment of capital and involving there-
fore no previous organization or
joint responsibility in the mainten-
ance and regulation of the service,
was regarded merely as a passing
phase of the hard times and was
expected to disappear oither when the
ownTs of the automobiles found more
regular forms of employment or
dispoKwl of their cars for other mcs,
or because necessary repairs vurn be-
coming too frequent and too coitly.
On the other hand, however, the per-
sistence of the period of economic
depression, the continued nupplj of
sccund-hanfl mitomohilcs and the
Bubdtitution of other types of drivers
when the original operators dropped
out, led to the continuation of the
competition, although in varying
numbers. It is true that a wave of
experiment in the jitney service, aided
by the n<.ve!ty of it for those un-
accustomed to this reputed luxury,
swept across the continent and led
certain hasty obser^-crs to hail it as
possibly a new and effective method
of solving the perennial traffic prob-
lem of the larger cities. Yet the
wave soon recwled. liirgely owing to
tlie inability of the service per-
manently to maintain itwlf in pros-
perous communities, and partly also
to the adoption of necessary munici-
pal and state regulations and the
decisions of public service commis-
sions when its logical consequences
for the community were once realized.
Where, however, either equally at-
tractive methods of earnin;? a living
were not available, or, as In Winni-
peg, there was a large foreign cle-
ment in the population and cheaper
second-hand automobiles were readily
available, the jitney tcmpctition
exhibited a tendency to persist,
though with frequent changes in the
por-onncl of the operators.
WIXXIPF-G .WD VAXCOt-VER OXtV
"JITXEV" CITIKS IX CANADA
At present, howevci-, there arc only
two pi ■■- .'s in Canada where the jitney
service has remained as a serious
menace to the existence of the nomial
street car sorvico. These arc Winni-
peg and the C0;:st cities of Vancouver
and Victoria, .^s regards tlieir effect
upon the street car service, the re-
sults have been similar in both
centres. The earnings of the street
railways on the central and most
lucrative routes have been greatly
rcfluccd, with the result that even in
Winnipeg, where there is much leii
economic reaction in industry and
population than in the coast cities
of British Columbia, the street rail-
way company has already found its
revenue inadequate to meet its
operating expenses.
The growth of the jitney compe-
tition in Vancouver and Victoria and
the rCiUtive effects upon the earnings
of the street cars are set forth in
detail in E.\hibit» 37 and 38, the loi-
ter of which is aUo given in the
Record of- Proceedings No. 3. In
Exhibit 37 is shown very clearly,
from the records of the Company's
inspectors, the sudden rise in the
number of jitneys between November,
1914, when they first made their
.■appearance, and February, \9\^,
when there wore at least aiS-l diflerent
jitnevs ill operation during sonic
portion of the month. TliJ maximum
nimibcr of 2H3 was reached in Xlay,
1D15. On June 1 of the same year
the bonding regulation came into
effect anil the numbers dropped to
231. Except for a slight recovery in
August and September, they con-
tinued to decline during the remain-
der of the year, and up to February,
1916, when there were only 38 in
operation. With the return of sum-
mer the numbers increased again,
reaching the high water mark of 124
in August. Afterwards they declined
once more, f;tlling back to the lowest
number, namely 55. in Fcliruary,
1917- As usual, they revived agaii
ivith the sj. ring weather and num-
bered 119 in May last.
.\9 already pointed out, and as
quite justly contended bv the repre-
sentatives of the jitney interest, the
jitncv is only one of the factors
which have n:-ulted In the reduction
of the Company's ^trcet car revenue
Iwlow the level f>f operating expenses.
It is also true that when goo<l times
once more return to Aancouver and
Victoria the street car income will
probably meet operating expenses.
As the experience of other cities of
at
Hei'oiit or D«. AiiAM Sho.tt
»iiml«r >ize inv.riubly indicatet, will,
tiK advent of pro.pcritj. the jitney
would largely di.appear, the better
Urivers again reverting to their
iiighcr occupations and the otherj to
shorter hours and higher pay. I„ (he
meantime, however, the jitney com-
petition IS greatly impairing, and if
prolonged for some time mav quite
destroy, at least the oullving street
car service.. This is olmndantly evi-
dent from the variation of the trafflc
and r«^eipl records according to the
number, „f the jitneys in operation.
As already pointd out, before the
odvent of the jitney, the Company
found ,t, l„rB>..,t traffic in the sum-
mer, but .,mce their competition do-
>elop«l their largest volume of traffic
■smthewmter. Tin, simply emplm-
sizc, the fact that the ji,„^vi,e,scn-
tmlly a fair weather service, and
lUlte unable to meet the need, of the
public under all conditions. Further
the daily variation in the number of
iniT; '" opiration from January,
1.916. o .May. 1917, stronflv emphi-
.ize, the very irregular seriice sup.
Phed by th, system of tran.porta-
lon. and the further fact that it
fails most markcllv in time, of
greatest necl—in other words, when
weather conditions ar» bad. Tbu, in
January. 1916, the numbers in daily
operation varied from US to «/
while ,n January. 1917, thev varied
from 93 to 4. In Februarv. 1916,
they varied from IIS to 0. the latter
for three day,, and the following
February from 10.5 to 0. Even in
the ,ummer month, thev vary great-
^y. oviilentlv with weather con,li,i„„s.
In .May, 19IB, ,|„j, „„^ f^„^ j^^
\°t.i„,'" f "" **""■'''•■■• »"'' ''"'
-May, though somewhat steadier, they
ranged from 136 to gfj. „ j., „^
Sunday, ?„ _^„g^,f^ ,g,g_ j,^^^
ranged from U9 to 87. or 79 on
Sunday. Similar variation, both as
to ,ea.sonal conditions and in daily
service prevailed in the City of Vic"-
toria. The only approximation to
a steady service i, that fu ' Vd by
the ,o-called Blue Funnel Line of
mterurban automobiles operating be-
tween Uncouver and \e, Westmin-
ster on the special driveway known a,
Kingsway. ond from .Vew Westmin-
ster to various suburban points. As
this service has several special fea-
ture, of Its own and i, not on the
ordinary jitney basis, ,e shall have
occasion to refer to it separately
•TTXEV, „A0 CLIENTELE WHO L.KEO
■■•IVACV AND SOCIAL ATTtACTIO.V.
The official, of the Compan,, from
the detailed information gathered by
their inspectors, have estimate.1 the
averag„l„„ per day from the jitney,
o|K.Tating in Vancouver at *7, and
t'ivef ',",?" ■°""- ■''■= ---P'Mcnta-
ti>e, of the jifncy, claim, however,
rrrt ^"".'l\ ""■'""" '° "A»l»ntiate
certain of these claims, that a numl^r
of them male considerably more than
■». gross per day. They also claim.
'I'll on obviou, meu,ure of truth,
that the total earning, of the jitney,
do not furnish a correct h«,i, f„r ,.„
estimate of the losses of the Com-
P»"y. The Jitneys, it i, elaiiue.1.
tarry a considerable number of pas-
sengers who would not have used the
street car, had there been no jitney,
m operation. In thi, connection"!
eave ou of account for the pre,ent
tho,e Jitney, which operate in the
district, not served by the street cars.
Iho possengers obtained by the jit-
neys independently of the street car
service, on the same routes, are made
up. generally ,pe„|ii„g, „, („„
Jl^a^es. First there are lh„,e who,
m good weather and especially on
fine evenings, outside the rush hour,,
lake a jilney trip for the pleasure of
the outing and e,pceially for the
enjoyment of the company which
they meet with, either by acciilent or
appointment. Observation will de-
monstrate, and the driver, themselve,
acknowledge and even urge, that
tlicir evening passenier, are chiefly
young people of both sexe,. It i,
true, of course, that the street ears
m all cities have always carried a
very considerable numbe'r of persons
especially in the evening!, who ride
for plcaaurc, but it is obvious that
the open-air travelling in fine wea-
ther, the easier ride in the better
cars, the greater privacy and social
attractivcncsj of the rear seats,
especially in the evenings, offer in-
ducements to many patrons of the
jitneys which the Irrger area, formal
arrangement of the seats, full illumi-
nation of the cars and consequent
publicity do not afford. One driver
of wide experience and shrewd knowl-
edge of youthful human nature de-
clared before the Commission that as
an attractive commercial venture he
had in mind the devising of a car for
evening trofflc equipped throughout
with buck seats only. On these and
other groumls there is undoubtedly
much truth in the claims of the repre-
sentatives of the .jitney interests that
not only do the jitneys attract from
the street cars a very considerable
section of the pleasure-riding public,
but they create a. still larfjor traffic
of their own. Obviously tlie revenue
derived from this special traffic would
not revert to the street cars were the
jitnevs suppressed.
In the second class of special jit-
ney patrons comes a variable number
who find that on special routes the
more convenient and rapid service
furnished by some of the jitneys
enables them to return to their
homes for mi-lday meals which other-
wise they must carry with them or
obtain in restaurants in the neigh-
borhood of their work. Certain
other special conveniences of a simi-
lar nature have also to be taken into
account.
When, however, full allowance i»
made for all the extra tralBc which
the jitney creates for itself, and con-
sidering the claims of the representa-
tives of the jitneys thot some drivers
at least are able to make a net income
of from $1,000 to $1,200— although
in such cases the hours of work are
exceptionally long — the estimate of
the Company as to the amount of
gross earnings of which the jitneys
deprive it ii probably not fur from
the mark. On this basis for the city
and suburbs of Vancouver the aggre-
gate amount lost to the Company
through the jitney competition for
the year 1916 is given a* $261,278.
The actuol receipts of the Company
from this area during the year were
$1J137,058. Without the jitney
jrompctition, therefore, the groM in-
come would have been approximately
$1,498,333; but if we allow for a
proportionate increase in the car
mileage required to accommodate the
extra passengers, amounting to
107.479 car miles, which at an oper-
ating cost of 15 cents per car mile
would amount to $16,121, we hove
left a net increase of $8-W,lfl7. Inci-
dentally this shows how very far the
jitney ser^'icc is, e\-cn at its best, from
meeting the transportation require-
ments of the city and district of
Viincouvcr. Thu cxttiit, however, to
which it cuts in upon the income of
the Company is quite sufficient to
make the difference between thr possi-
bility and impossibility of financial
continuance on the part of the Com-
pany. While the extra income of
$245,000 would not convert the exist-
ing losses of the Company into a
surplus, yet it would probably be
sufficient, with certain economies and
rearrangements to be considered
later, and in view of a certain ten-
d cy to recovery noticeable within
the past year, to bring the earnings
of the Company on its street railway
business to the point of at least meet-
ing its outlay. This would permit
the Company, though with the sacri-
fice of any dividends on its stock, to
maintain its solvency and to continue
an efficient transportation service un-
til the return of o period of normal
prosperity, such as may be reason-
ably expected from ti-c situation of
these ccrtrcs of population in rela-
tion to the commercial requirements
of the continent and the valuable
resources of the province. At any
rate it is plain from the economic
situation which has developed in the
so
centre, of \a„c„uv«r .nil VicloHa
•n<l the flnanci.l condition of the
BritMh (olumbm Electric thai It
cnnnot continue in bu.inci under the
co.nl.med mHuence of the unavoidable
«hrink«Be of population, deprccd
economic condition, of recent yean,
and the competition of the jitne-
cars. J'""-.
HtFoiT o, p.. Adak Sho.tt
««->vy njLTTK 10U1.J M„„ „,.
roar oitivixo loi-Tta
The central principle on »hich any
adenuale .treet car «nice i, „e^,^
•anlybudti, that of utilizing "„
Irafflc route, „ ,upp„rt, e,pcel„l|y
•n he.r ,n,l,„l stage,, the „„,lvi„^
roulo, .,lh lighter traffic, which*
hoover will ,„„„ a„, „^^ .J'-^^J
""' »<'l'-""PP»rting and later con-
"Id «till more oxtenclwl routes. If
..."■ever anything occur, tn ,li,.'
l-cato th„ systc,,,. ospceiall, l„ ,|„.
wlich" t'l''"'"'''."? ""•■ "'■""" "I""
TO,tW service for a time and if
flTh L '" """" """""''I' lead to
d^MhH "i:*" "' ""= ™rp„r„ti„„,
douhtles, „f,„ . g„,,„^, „;,pe„,i„„'
of tie more unprofitable line, in the
outskirt, of the city. Obviou^rv, if
a competitive service sucli a, the" jit-
ney, comes in, especially during „
period of financial depression and 1„,.
of population, and take, awav a
'"f ,"■'■''"'' of the most profitable
ce^ral traffic .itlm,,, ^Z' '™
ini^lrr-'' °" ••'''■"«''' ■"'''"ftl.e
.nprofilable route,, it i, destroying
tl» capacity of ,|,e general ,;^„^
portnlion ,ystcni to meet its obliga-
l^on, rtile, I upset, entirely He ^,.
Kanizalion on which the street rail-
fay can alone meet the standarf
requirements.
It ha, been stale,!, even bv the
managers „f ,i,.eet ,„i,„„ ,^-
ttlal the competition of the jitney,
"ueh be «dmi„il,le were it c^ctend™
equally ,o all the route, serviS^ b"
he company. E.xcep„ however, i„
the largest centre. .,f population.
setera ° " '" '"'""""""« tha
"cieral concurrent system. cai,n„(
adequately provide f^r "t'! .„""".
unprofllable portion, of the field, can
only mean that one .y.tem or the
other m„., .„ce„mb within . com!
^m.[?v ."?"""•' °"" • P"-i°'' of
«re»lly deteriorated ,ervice for the
P .lie. !.•. other words, a field wl,
»ill ,upp„rt one adi^uate and
elflcient transportation Zrviee it
"cldom support two, no matter l7ol
■q..« are the ten.i, of ,|,c compr
'"" '""•™ ".em. A, bet»ee„Tv ,
•.vsteiii, of tran.p„rtation it i, ™
..nab e,. ml proper that that whir™,
""- ";"er able to meet tlio need, „f
;'."'"''"" ""y population should ,ur-
'":. ^" 'estcd interest ,„■ ,„„,.
pect.ve sacrifice of capital i,iv 'Zl
LrMf'"'','" ■' »"i-e wil'eh
pi.»e, to be inferior to another em
'liy the le,s adcsquate service should
■e iiiaill amed. On this basis, a, o
«^en the existing ji,„cy „;/ -
electric street ear service the great
P aclical quction is, doe, or ca5 the
..tney urnish a cheaper, a more u„™
fonii, more adequate, reliable and
responsible service lli„„ ,|,at „f Z
ex.«ti.;. street car,? If ,„, i„„e„,I
" '»"« .n'erfercl with and i,I
P e,™l. It should he given free c„„e
; ...d eneourageuient, but if „„(. since
. ',■' "■"'™' 'roil, the detaili-d finm-
efr™lT"„"V''r''' »".'»lreadv
ferrcl to tha he two system, can.
""' '°;'';'«' «.tl.n..l the disappear-
aneeo the street railway, it, s"^,;;;
that the general interest of the ,-om-
niunity requires the elimination of tie
Jitney a, a condition of retaining the ■
existing transportation service" be-
jond at least the central and more
.lensely populated city areas.
The special arguments for and
aRainst (he continuance of the jitnev
service, ,n Vancouver and Victoria
"■ere submitted for the most part ii
Jitney ok Stimt Ca»
87
written form and will Iw found in the
exhibit* which accompany t\\\* re-
port. The chief cxhibitt on the part
of the Company are numberi d7, i*8,
107. 144, 149. and Proceeding* No.
a and No. 4, Vancouver; alio exhib-
its Nos. 13 and US and Prococdinjji
No. 4 in Victoria. In support of the
jitney claims arc cxliihiti No*. 46 to
7S and 119, and Procecdinffs \o«. 5,
6, 7 and 8, Vancouver, and exhibit!
No8. a7 to 35 and Proccedingi Soi.
4, S and 6 in Victoria.
In addition to the evidence fcth-
mittcd before the Comminsion. muct.
information ban been obtained by the
Commiflsion from other sources in
Canada and the United States.
IS THE JITXEV AM EVOLfTlOX IN
TtANSPOKT.^TlOS ?
As miiy be oliservwl from a pcrusnl
of the nrsum'-'nt itud evidence prc-
scnti'd in fiivor of tlic jitnt-y iiitcrost^,
thi; linvs followed (ind the cont'liitioii'*
reiichetl arc very far from consistent
with each other. Siimctimcs it is held
that the jitneys arc quite prepurctl
to take over immeiliotcly the prvscnt
street onr scr%ice of the B. C. Elec-
tric; at others it is admitted that
thev could do so only after some con-
siderable development. It is admitted
as obvious, however, that with all the
superior qualities claimed for the
jitney service, since it is neither pos-
sible nor desirable that these two sys-
tems should scr\-c the same districts
or operate on the same streets, either
immediately or at least in a short
time the electric street car must be
supplantwl by the jitney or the n
tor bus. In those portions , of the
argument who. it is conceded that
the jitncvs arc at prepared to im-
mediately take ti.c place of the street
cars, no suj^K"*'""^ "" made as to
how the internal is to be filled in.
There can be little doubt that if
the facts arc Jis presented in the
general run of the jitney argument,
the conclusion reached is perfectly
sound and any attempt to prolong
tbc existence of a company whose
system of •ervico is plainly obsolete,
or to temporarily layc it from bonk-
ruptcy by eliminating m superior
competitor, readjusting rates and
routes, or introducing other minor
economies, would be at once mis-
directed charity and unjustifiable
public policy. If the capital invest-
ments of the Company in its street
car service are obviously doomed to
obsolescence because a superior ser-
vice has Iwcn developed, and if, as is
amply demonstrated, the Company it
at present losing heavily on its an-
nual operation, what could be more
unwise in' principle, more ruinous to
the Company, more contrary to the
i.i*crests of the citizens of the dis-
tn.'ts of Vancouver and Victoria,
tha.i an attempt to prolong the pre-
sent undesirable situation when the
inevitable outcome is plainly in sight?
It it tlmil.ilvss n serious matter for
till' future financial prospects of the
const cities, un<l indirectly of the
Province of Hritish Columbia, that
British capitalists should have been
inducetl to expend in goo<l faith such
large aiuouuts of capital in electric
railway systems in the chief civic
centres of British Columbia, when
this capital investment almost before
the completion of the undertakings
should be doomed to almost complete
loss. But, however unfortunate this
may be lor the British investors, in
British Columbia as elsewhere th-^y
must be prepared to meet losses, bow-
ever severe, when it is obvious that
they arc due to tbc unavoidable con-
ditions of progress. In such a conc
British ColuniDia and its -.leople are
no more at fault than those of any
other portion of tbc world, not ex-
cluding Britain itself.
Noitbcr British investors, however,
nor those from any other quarter can
bo expected to take li-iihtly tbc loss
of their capital through bad fuitb.
such as the illegitimate sacrifice of
their interests as outsiders to inferior
domestic claims because cf their local
influence or sympathies. Nor can
they be expcctwJ to submit calmly to
Ik
H.roiT a, p.. AoM Shoitt
ll
"■•lly plant, after the c.pil.1 ,„.
vctd m their conilniclion ho. bcra
gratefully .Uorhed in local .jpcndi-
ture, m order to make ».y for other
pro.pccli,c plant, which .ill i„,ol„
for . few j,c«r. the eipendilurc of
much new capital and thu. procure >
lemporarj- return of good time.. Nor
wm they appreciate the falw kindnc.
of any encouragement to continue at
heajy annual lo.. a .y.tem of Iran.-
portation or any other public utility
<rhich It ,. cheerfully declared in ad-
vance can never be re.tored to a pav-
Z"., t- .'"'°''" "" "mpcting
•y'em which i. the chief cauM of it?
accumulating lo..e, ■;. dctined to
replace it a. a much .up-rior niethod
of lran.portalion. The only coMlv
.elf-intere,tc.d. not to mcniion the
"nly hone.t, method of deoling with
« company placed in .iicli an un-
Jcrahle .ituation i, not to encour-
age It ,n the continued .acrifice not
only of ,t, past inve«tniont,. but of
.ueh exi.tmjt re.ene. a. it may have
rr"^ t'"""°" '"■•'"■•">'' 'i""'
face f u" '""'"■"g-'i '" «l once
face frankly the inevitable and lo
»«vc what 1, po„ible from the w^k
of il« inve.tment.. Moreover, in p.n-
'"» •'"- :t« ""fortunate in^^tol
who have them.elve, parted with ,o
many million, of their capital, almo.t
entirely upended in contributing '„
not a kindly manner. Doubtle,, there
L^"\ "•"'P'""-" 'o abu,e those
•o^^,^ .T "'' '"" ""'"^ '''"''"»
iher?7r r.° "''"■ P'^'-^^'-riv when
from them. Even on the Wot
ground,, however, it i. poor poHcv to
give way to .sucli temptation. l"feel
"nv-^ccd, however, that the gre,
n.«.,.,tv of the people of ,|„«|,°;
^.t.e, of British Columbia do not en
PJZ "-e bitter reference, to , he
Company and ,t, investor, which are
«nt.inedin,^me of the evidence and
argument, of lho« supporting the
jitney intere.1,. L.„, „, „ .,,
her .;.l..crib.,o,l,. ..„,;„ J,':'
^matter. h„|, what investor, in
of l7„T"''"^°'''""'""""nt
of tliem, iHcausc hereafter, in con-
fluence of the great war, .upphe.
""" "• ""T .OW TO J.TN« oa
■nv-viy 10 sTiiCT CIE
If, however, the advocate, of the
J.lney cause should prove lo l« mi"!
!"t°V" 'heir estimate, and tlTe 7-
ney should not be a form of tran.-
portation which i. able to take t ,
place of the electric .treet car" but
™ only at best, even in such de-
velopment, of it „ „„ i„ ,. -^ "-
portation, then the alternative pro-
p. ..tlon. rceosniied a. .ueh bv the
"Jvocato, of ,h, ji,„„. ;' "^'
•trcet cor bein^ sacrificed for (ho
f"""™,'"'". «"'! "tension of the
Jitney the j„„,,,,h„„y,,^,^^^.JJ
for the preservation of an electric
;x '" "■' ^" ■•"'""" ""h-
Though few of those who appeared
.efor. the Commission and pr'.^real-
IJT none of tho« who faced th. actual
situation of the B. C. Electric were
i„l A"*" "" J"""-" "n operate
n competition with each other Z the
pre n ba.i.wi,h„„,,h„^,,.^._,, ''•
o th - larger and more eo,tly .erviee,
«! .1 1, po„ihle that a number o^
"'""'• ';P"ially those who have no
ac ualy faced the fact,, mav be r
dcr the ,mpre.„o„ that the,e two
».v,tem, can operate indefinitely in
c_ompet,tion Such citizen, may a?
east have the conviction that under
Mo "wncrshp and superior manage-
ment and eronomy of the respective
the public purse ,t may be possible
to operate the present electric service
on a profitable ba.i., while permitting
nt ■"'"7» '<" '--"ly take what they
plea« of the cream of th. busine.?
JiTNET OR St»K«T CaI
S9
If »uch «n opiuion ihotild b« at ftU
prtvalent, th« wty for fuch an e»-
pcrinicnt it quite op«n, inn«much oi
proviiion ii niMl* in the charter of
the Company for the City of Van-
couver to tnkc over at iti option,
within a couple of yean, the itreet
car Mrvice within itt limits. In that
caie there should be no great difl-
culty in ac(,jiring on similar terms of
arbitration the outlying suburban
Mctions. as was in contemplation
under the tentative agreement of
1910. A similar solution applies to
Victoria, where there would appear to
be more conviction, on the part of
the City Executive at least, that the
citizens can afford to maintain a
double system of transportation, not
only in different wctions of the city,
which of course would be quite rea-
sonable, but even in the «omc districts
and upon the same streets. Should
it therefore Iw possible to convince
the majoritv of the ratcpoycrs of
cither or bo'th of the cities of Van-
couver and Victoria that in spite of
the experiences of the B. C, Electric
it is both desirable ond possible to
operate a general street car system,
scr\-ing at once the civic centres and
the outlying suburban, industrial and
residential districts, while at the
Mine time freely permitting individ-
ual operators of jitney cars, in the
care-free pursuit of their own per-
sonal interests, to take or leave what
they please, and when they please, of
the most profitable portion of the
traffic, they have the opportunity to
practically demonstrate their faith
by their works.
This experiment, if undertaken by
the civic corporations, hoa the added
advantage that it can be conducted
without the very serious risk to the
suburbas districts in particular of
losing their street railway altogether,
or to the inner districts of suffering
from an inferior service. Miacalculo-
tions of municipal ratepayers, unlike
those of a private corporation, can
be made good out of their own
pockets through the simple process
of increasing their taxes, even when
their Iwrrowing limits are reached.
However, assuming for tht time
that the majority of the eitiicns of
Vancouver and Victoria ond their
adjoining municipalities, even if
favoring the municipal ownership
and operation of public utilities, art
no more prepared than thott of Ed-
monton and Calgary to permit pri-
vate competitors, with nothing more
at stake than a second-hand auto-
mobile, which the jitney operators
tell us can, even in these dull times,
be disponed of without loss, to freely
exploit the cream of the city's reve-
nue, the question simply narrows
itself down to whether the jitney ser-
vice or the I'lectric street ear service
it to operate in the coast cities of
British Columbia.
JITNEY CAXNOT TAKE PLACE OF
STBEET EAILWAr SEkVICE
An open-minded examination of
the jitney senice as it at present
exists should convince anyone that,
while it may be a useful supplement
to an electric roilway service, it can-
not possibly take its place. Thai it
ii possible for a tracldcss motor bus
system, installed and operated by a
corporation with lorge capital ond a
highly organixed and efficient staff,
to take the place of the street cars
on well-pavd streets, is quite ad-
missible. But this is simply to change
from one great public utility cor-
poration to another, and the change
might as easily 1» made by the pre-
sent corporation, the Britifth Colum-
bia Electric Railway Company, as hy
any other compony, in simply substi-
tuting motor busses for street cars,
as in the case of the motor bus com-
panic of New York and Chicago.
This system, however, has nothing
whatever in common with the existing
jitney service except the one single
feature that neither the jitneys nor
the motor busses require tracks and
trolleys. Whether the motive power
should be in either or both cases
M
HiroiT or Di. Amii Smoiit
n
cfcctncjljt or g>ioli'ne i, mtnly a
rnnller ol oxpcrimtnt ami loool cml.
Ai ii /ully dcmon.lrat«l in lh<
origin ud cipuKion of llie jilncr
wvice. it inrolrn no rational fort-
•i«lil or organiution, no >p(cial in-
vwlmnil of capital in linn from
which It cannot bo readily «ilhdrairn,
no guarantm ai to ratn and no ipe-
cial arrangement! to meet the per-
manent needs of the public — in a
»ord, no roponiibility whatever,
either peraonal or corporate, to con-
tinue in adequate lorm a acrvicc whicli
li«« become one of the moat per-
manent and vital requiiitci of a mod-
cm city. The atlomcr for the jit-
neyi mako a ipecial point of this
capacity of the jitney to ludilcnlv
appear m great force, a> in the ca»
of the Seattle and other street cur
'trikci, and to fudc away again. In
Viclorio, at the evidence sulimittid
hv llie jitney intcrc.t, will ,|„.«., the
Jitncyj operate indi<criiiiiiiatrlv n«
iilncy. and taxicali,. Their particu-
lar role at any given tirac is naturally
detcrininnl liy what fores can he col-
leclcil under the one guise or the
other. During the street railway
strike double fares were collected on
the Jitney routes. On the other hand,
a street railway system in a large
modem centre of population i> the
product of yeors of organijation and
the investment of millions of capital
in forms, the greater part of which
cannot be converted to other uses
and IS therefore, at once a very heavy
(piarantee for the performance of it's
;ili igalionj and the highest possible
inducement to affunl where possible
an acceptable service to the public
on .hose favor it entirely depends,
"ere the street cars forced to dis-
continue, the citizens would be en-
tirely at the mercy of an irresponsible
ser-ice, both as to numliers in opera-
tion and fares demanded.
It may be said that as regards the
fares, mlc, could be adr,pl«l regu-
lating them, but as the present cab
and taxi tariffs in most cities prove,
this is a very inadequate remedy, and
in any ca.. there is no regulation
which can compel any individual, to
remain in a servira when they can
leave it without any material ..iri/lce
whenever something letter turns up.
fcven unde: the compulsion of hard
times the continuous fluctuation in
th. numbers of the jitneys and the
easy coming and going of indiyidual.
m th. Jitney ranks are ample evidcnc.
of the unrehability of this system of
transportation in any civic centre
large enough to prnilud. walking as
a feasible alternative for those with-
out pnvale means of conveyance If
apart ffom the diflcultie. and draw-
backs above enumerate.1, the jitneys
•re to be token seriously a. a sub-
stitute for the electric car service,
they would require to comply with
the following conditions.-
They would require to furnish
rfgiihir transportation within the
■IMrict. of Vancouver and it,
"Ubiirb. on at hast lu reliable a bo.is
lis the nrit.sl, Columbia Electric can
fumish.
They must also guarantee trnns-
fvrs to any port of the city at the
rote, offered by the street car
company.
They must carry school children
and workmen on th. ..me term. a.
the electric railway.
Also, in taking" the place of the
•treel railway and enjoying the privi-
lege of using the city streets, they
must contribute oc leist as much »,
the street railway towards the main-
tenance of the streets, the payment
of CIVIC and provincial taxes and the
"pecml contribution on the gross
earnings to the city treasury
They must furnish Iwnds' to such
«n extent as will rcn-ler cloims for
accidents and damage. ,.,nin,t them
■i» certain of recovery as at present
against the property of ,he
1 ompany.
As regards the special roles and
concessions regarding fore, and
transfer, which apply to the sub-
urban IrafBc of the Company, inas-
much as these have grown lip in a
JtTXBT OR STBBKT Ckt
31
I rnRincnlarj anil itolntcd mannrr
urn) on? at prct*nt vi-ry eonipltt. un-
Ltiual ami unsatisfactory, und lliiTc-
furs call for rvviaion. the jitncjr*
■houlU not be atked to conform to
4iich exceptional r'^nilitiona unU-»a
thvy claimed to be able to fulfttl thcw
requimnent* ai they stand, which it
)« admitted ttie Company cannot do.
They may, however, be fairly .wked
tb ^upplv a suburban service aa ft<>od
It* that of the rompnny, on aa fnvnr-
able terms to the public as the ('»m'
pnny would >>c able tn accept. In this
proposition noMiin^ is atipuUtcf) n»
to the interurban *er*ice Iwyond at
kast route No. 1, to New Wc^tmin-
ttir, or as to the wrvii-e on the line*
kn-K-d from the C P H., on the
Bumahy Lake line or the Frnscr >jiI-
Ivy line to Chitliwitck. It ^limild,
liowtvcr, inrludf tin- i»i.rvifv fiinii-'livd
ill North Vancouvt-r.
XO l-OH(tIIiIMTV OF JirSV.X ilKKTISli
TRAXHl'OaTATIDS IKtiriBESlKNTt
Now. it rcqiiirci only a utiitciiKnt
of tlicte conditions and a very Hupir-
flcinl knowKd((p of the jitney wrvice
in Vancouver and elsewhere to realize
that there is no possibility of these
conditions bcinff met by the jilncy
service in Vancouver were the electric
railway forced out of business. More-
over, neither the lenal rcprc entntive
of the jitney interests nor t.ic most
reckless advocate of the jitney privi-
leges who ftppearwl before the Com-
iniftslon has claimed that the jitneys,
under cither their present or rcnson-
uhlv prospective development, could
comply H-ilh the conditi<)ns at present
fuifitleil bv the Company.
Admitting the inability of the
present jitney system to meet these
re(|uircmcnts, all that is held out to
the citizens of the Vancouver and
Victoria districts is the vaijuc possi-
bility, based on the wholly un-
paralleled conditions of London and
New York and on the (fucsscs of cer-
tain writers about the bcjfinnina of
the jitney "invasion," hut which have
not been followed up since the recen-
sion of the jitney wave, that follow*
inn and improving on the jitney Mr-
vice tlR*re luight result soma form of
trackless Uiut'ir vehicles which might
some day t»ki tlw place of th«
present elertric street car. As al-
ready indicated, tiowever, in all such
suggestions it is not the onlinary,
irresponsible automobib jitney which
it expected to take the place of the
street cars, but some developeil form
of motor bus or car, properly ctoscil
in, seated, lighted and heated, and
thus atlapted to tlio regular convey-
ance of paHsrntf'o lit all seasons and
at all hourir." --iich a vehicle, it may
l:e i)hserv(<l .w passing, loses all the
opi^>eial iixrits and attractivemsa
nssociuti<l with the poor man's auto-
mobile and the joy-ridtng proclivi-
ties of it^ piitrons. Though there
Imve Ineii «vi.rid expiTimvnti with
different tvpi"' of iiiotiir r;irs in
.\iiKTie:iii titiL"*, tliey have not Ih'Cii
able tn iiinipi-te •.nrces'tfully with tin-
tieetric -tri-et cars, though iinne of
them have been ntaintaiui'd either by
the street car companies th niselvcs
or by independent operators, ns fur-
nishing a very suitable supplcmcnt-
arv service beyond the street car
tines. It is tnic that motor bus ser-
vices have been successfully developed
in some of the older and larger cities
of Kurope, where the contour and
varying widths of the strei-ts do not
tend themselves to the operation of
electric tram cars, as also in some of
the larger cities of America, where,
as in New York and Chicago, every
possible form of tninsportatioii —
above, on ami Iwlow the streets — is
employed to (U-al with the ever in-
creasing volume of traffic. In these
cities, however, the trackless trolley
bus is employed as a supplementary
service, e-tpccially on streets where it
is not convenient or desirable to have
trolley wires and tracks, as also in
parks anil on driveways, for similar
reasons. In other large cities,
especially those like San Francisco,
where municipal ownership of the
street car service is making headway.
the Iram nr ia occuionally •doptod
■• • uipplnmnUry Mrrin in t-j,,
lvmp«r.rilv (o meet ih. poquir. i.tnl.
of 111. no.ip citjf .nd •uburiMn di.-
tncl. .lure il ,oM not bi prodl-
•l>l«. for . Ij„» ,t I,.,,, ,„ I ,^j
opir.lc th. reguUr trolley line. In
•II .uch M.C. ho..,,,, c.p.ri„c.
ho.. Ih.. „,i,h., th. jiln,, n*;, .™,
in. motor hut ii ■•nau.lir rtnnM
•« • pruticnl .llcnutiM to th.
rtgulur .Irtel »r wrvic « „.,
h. noted lh.l .hile there {. through-
out the Inited Sl.te. ud C.n«l" .
wrjr gener.l .git.tion for an inereai.
in Irnn.port.tion rntca. hoth loeal
«nil Kener.l. in order to meet the
.nereo.m« e„,l „f l^„ .„j .
"lent, vet in all the nete...ry expan-
.[on. of the .treet r«l..y .ervic.
mere lia. Iieen no leriou. .uggeition,
in Am.ricn at lea.t, .. to the .uh.ti-
tution of other method, of tran.-
portation for the eKetric .trvet ear
o.oiMirn .v.TEji. 1I1.T r.iv.ui. ix
TUB E.\-0
Even <liimld lome form of motor
•erviee utiiiiatoly replace the elee-
trical trollev. a> nrgued by the jitner
rnlcrct., ,1 mmt lie cnnductH. a>
experience -very.here prove., cither
»y re.pon.ihle joint .lock companie.
or municipal corporation.. In either
eoM the independent individual jitney
o-mer, in who«e intcrct. the .hole
argument hefore the Commi..ion .a.
prMented, mu.l lie climinateil. II i,
difficult to .ee, therefore, .hat advan-
tage there i. i„ thro.ing out of
eniplo.vinenl that large and reapeet-
able cl«„ of citizen, of Vancouver
and \ letori. district, who con.titut.
the employee, of the Brili.h Columbia
Electric- RaiLay Company, merely
to in.iire the temporarv .upport of
• limited number of independent
operator, of jitney car., ,ho cannot
guarantee, either for them,olvr, „r
each other, thai they .iU fu^ish a
reliable ,ervice for the citizen, of
tho.e di.tnct,, and .ho in turn mu.t
Ik .upplanled by large and per-
manently re.pon.ihle capitali.t cor-
poration. Th.« in turn mu.t de-
ll 7 "l^' :""-"<t""'«"l ■.v.tcm.
«illi a mly of employe, under nor-
mal and ..li.factory condition., .ilh
h. cu.tom.ry regulation. «, to
hour., rate, and tl» „,„, other
term. embodi«l in agr..mcnl. b.-
.een «nploy,r. «,d employe.
What demorahiation the Hn.ncial
and commercial int.rcl. of the coa.t
citie. mu.t undi^rgo, .hat .reek.g.
of value, for outlying rddential pro-
Prlie., ,h,,l h.rd.hip, and incon-
venience, to the gineral l,™lv of citi-
len. mu,t 1» endured u, oHect th.
Irnn.ition from one capitali.t organ-
..ntioi, to another, through , in irrc-
•p..n.il,le jitney interval, one can
•mly leave to the individual j„,|g.
luffe' ° '*" """" ■■'"'•"'
The attorney for the jil,i,v inter-
e.t. made ,ome con.iilerahle MUmpt
to .ho. that ,h,.re ,„. virtuallv a
cm.pirucy between the Companv and
■ t. employee, by mean. ,if the ifrike
in ./line to demon.ti-ate to the cili«n.
.hat they mu.l .uffer .liould the
. rei-l car .y.tem be- elo,«l up. Prob-
ably he argument .a, not intended
to 11- ta^i„ ,ery .eriou.lv. The iia.i.
Of ,. .a. entirely repudiati-d by both
the ( onipany and it. employee'.. .\..
Mimly ,1 involved a rnlh'er .ever.
reHeclion on the general intelligence
of the partie. aecu,cd. Had they an-
•uch dnign in vie., it .ouW'hnv.
been the height of folly ,„ ,,„ ,|,^j
performance at a lime of the year
mo,l favorable to the jitney, "and
nio.l .lundvantageou, to tlieiii.elve,.
•^ '"'month, earlier, .,y i„ .r„„uary
or February, .hen the .e,.h,.r ..nd
.treel condition, .ere mo.t unfavor-
able to the .„tney., they might have
*mon.tr.te,l, if that .ere neee„ary,
ho. difficult it .ould be for the iil-
noy. .alisfactorilv to ,erye (b,,
tran.port need, of the district, of
Vancouver and Victoria, even at ten-
eenl fare,. At the same time, a. ha.
i>een demon.lrated very fully in Lo,
Angele, and other American citie,
.here the exi.tence of a ,lreet car
JiTXEr OR Street Cae
39
service has been ttircatcncd by jitncv
compelitioit, the cniployeL's of the
^itrcet rtiilwnv, recognizing tliat their
meanx of earning a I'ving was direct-
ly 0.1 Htakc, have taken a very special
interest in the problem and have,
Very naturally, done what they could
n-ithin their legal rights as citizens
to demonstrate to their fellow*
citizens the folly of sacrificing at
once the means of life for a large and
permanent section of the citizen body
and the interest* of the majority of
the residents without private means
of conveyance, in their indispensable
need for an adequate transportation
service. Hitherto the employees of
the B. C. Electric hove taken but a
very modest part in the protection
of their own interests, apparently
assuming that their employers on the
one hand and the City Council repre-
sentatives and general body of the
citizens on the other, in sofcguarding
their own interests would protect
those of the employees of the
Company.
IV. THE IXTERURBAX JITNEY
XO GUARANTEE JITNEY LINE Al-QULD HEMAIN IN BUSINESS
Ttco services cannot co-exist. Commissioner finds that free-lance com-
petition, might undermine present jttneij line, a/iicA has not the stability of
company nith large investments. Intermediate or local trafjic requires the
B. C. Electric, zvhich cannot meet its operating expenses, far less pay
dividends, in face of competition.
T N' dealing with the jitney com-
A petition in the City of Vancouver
and district it has been stated that
the only route on which a fairly uni-
form service was maintained was that
of the so-called Blue Funnel Line, be-
tween Vancouver and New Westmin-
ster. For several reasons it is neces-
sary to deal with this separately.
The Blue Funnel Motor Line Com-
pany, Limited, is a somewhat peculiar
institution. It is a registered com-
pany of the Province of British
Columbia which appears to have been
incorporated early in 1916. Accord-
ing to the statements filed by the
manager, Mr. Coldicutt (see Exhibits
46 and 46A) the general imprciision
would ■ undouhteilly be conveyed, and
Jiras that first obtained by the Com*
mission, that the company owned and
operated a large number of cars,
some forty-one in number, and was
a quite stable and responsible insti-
tution, financially and otherwise.
Some doubts having been cast on the
tenor of the first statements, Mr.
Coldicutt was asked for a supplc-
montury statement, certain points
l>cing specified on which special in-
formation was desired. This was fur-
nished some time later (see Exhibit
119). In this it was stated that eight
of tho cars were owned by the Blue
Funnel Motor Line, Limited ; but on
further questioning, Mr. Coldicutt
finally admitted that none of the cars
was owned by the company, but that
they were owned by three sharehold-
ers, Messrs. T. D. Coldicutt, George
E. Xeilson and Q. McGill. Mr.
Coldicutt owned three: Mr. N'cilson,
or his wife, JIaggIc N'eilson, in who.'-c
name it appears they registered,
owned three; and Jlr.ircGill. two.
Mr. Coldicutt's explanotion of the
misleading statement in the cxliibit
submitted was an attempt to main-
tain that as the cars were owned by
stockholders of the company thev
were owned by the company — a state-
ment which implied a degree of ignor-
ance of elementary business principles
of which in no other respect did Mr.
Coldicutt give ony evidence ; cer-
tainly not in his organization and
r
at
■".nagcmcnl of hi. lr.„.p„rtation
bu„„c,.. The other l.only-lhroc „""
-nnec,od with the ors.oLtion a"
o.ned by . „„mher of independent
m<l,vuluul., who, ho«c-er. 'in ,7'
operation of their ,,, J'],X
ecrla,„ agreement. ■, tl, the ,„,.„,.,,
of the eonpan.y an. .uhkrt evi,i.„,|.,
to the general n,. ,.g „e„t of j,,
Coldicult. For t.c pnvilc.ro „
op.r.l,„g nnder tl,e .egi. !? ,";
Blue Funnel Line and under the verv
comjK.te„l management of Mr
Cold,cu.t the individual o»nor« pay
cortam a lowanee, to the company!
out of whieh the common expen,e,
"'.'""'• »'"^ "dverti.ing an,l the
nC"?v°'. "ffl"' in \«neo,,ver and
the. '"!'"'" ■■" '"'"'""I" for
the car, and rendezvous for their
.P»lro„,. Beyond the value of I
..d.v.dual automobile, the member,
onetho. ddo„.^;:':^.^::t
'"lue of the auto ,upplie, and enuip.
menl on hand A further ,„^ Tf
S ' '""'"''"' ""<'"■ >l" 1"»J of
Offlee lease, and equipment." An
offieo Iea,e, however, i. about aj
xcept ,n ,„ far a, it i, pai,', ,„ „j:
'«nce, ami very few such a.,et, are
»e,„,r«l ,n that way. The importan
pomt however, a, affect, the public
nterct ,„ the matter i, that „„ , e
niember, of the company and the per-
,o„.m„reorle,,l„o,e|yattaehe,lt„
them have very httle at ,tale in the
b,,,,ne„ except their automobile,!
The,e, however, are rapidiv depre-
ml.ng. ,i„ce, owing t^ their co„t
life of httle more than a year, with
tS"-n"',h"''""""''"'""""'™""f
tire, in the meantime.
whith"' '''°'" '^^ ■""""Komenl it,elf,
Mr fold- ''».'' u""" »"°K<^tl>or in
■Ur Coldicutf, hand,, ther* i, little
anchorage m the bu,i„e., on the part
w th it °"'"„""'"M''«1» ««oei'ated
w^h .t. In other word,, thev whuld
require to, aerifiec but little "in leav-
neP°.T o, p.. An.w «■■„-.,
ing the road for ,ome more lucrative
or attractive occupation. Vndcr ordi-
-.ry circum.,lance, thi, i, a matter
, "" -P™" .""Portance to anvone
t the individual, concerned, "but
hen a very co„,ider,J,le number of
"Id"" """" '° '^■f'"'^ "PO" 'he
tirirckT'"°'''"''-'"''''i''"°'»
"'' '"''■ "' ."V KU«rantee for per-
.•fv „"ucb "'"^"■"""^-'"•'''"l-
|>y m »uch an organization goe, far
to account or the apparent ea,ewt|
»l"oh, in the pa,t two and a half
of- automobile owner, and wouid-la..
t'l'/'tfrn™',^'-"' '■"•<• ™n.peti.io;
"1. the Blue l..|„i,,i Line and pa.„cd
out ajt.un a, rapidly and ea.ilv when
•Y found .Mr, Coldicutf.enirg^™
» "I aggressive husii.cs, method, too
»'ro„g for the,,,. Thehistorvofthe
;^;:'r7"''/«"-ii'-v.Mr.(-,,idic,i,
"mself plainly denmnstiate, how
'■ttle reliance the public c..i, JZ
UPO" 'l-e stiihihty of anv ,u I, ser
■ice. Such stability a. Mierei, L
found to depend upon individual.
It IS quite evident from what the
^.mn.ss.on w„, able to learn, both
directly .and indirectly, of .Mr.
loldiciitt , management of the Dlue
I'um,ell.,ne,liatl,ep„,,e,,e,ex"p!
t^onal ability „, a shrewd busine,,
man and ha, devotcl himself rth
unt.rmg energy and aggre.,.ivciie„
to the organization of the motor
raffle which he ha, e,tabli,l,„|. „'
la, certaml.v built up a verv loose
hut qui e unique .,y,tem of correlated
automohilc route,, centering in Vw
"e,tmi,i.ter,and connecting with
Vancouver City on the on, hand and
™me^x other point, radiating from
f^,rnih"""'"""™"'"'*l'-The,^
furnish a very convenient and evi-
*ntly acceptable means of travel for
many person, who previ„u,|v enjoved
fe«- or no other convenient mean,' Tl
r,n,port. Only „„ „„c .cction of
Ful^I 'Y"":""«'". ■' the Dlue
the B r"p;''7 ■'" "^""■P^^it'O" with
the B. C. Electric. As .Mr. Coldicult
iMa
The IxTEttfBBAN Jitney
cl»im«, hi> is a through line, not
undertaking to convey passengers to
or from intermediate points except
incidentally to the terminals and when
arranged for hy teleplionc.
ONE OF TWO SEttVlCES JITNEV 0»
ELECTRIC MUST GO
An examination of the passenger
traffic conditions between New West-
minster and Vancouver »ill indicate
that much the largest and most
profitable portion of the traiRc is the
through service between the central
portions of the two cities. In accord-
ance with the free lance system of
the typical jitney traffic, this is the
portion which alone is sougiil by the
Blue Funnel Line, leaving tlie more
irregular, sparse and unprofitalile
traffic of the intermeilinte region to
be served by the B. C. Electric or any
other parties, private or corporate,
who may care to attempt it. It being
recognized that the Blue Funnel Line
fr.nnklv confines itself to the most
profitable section of the traffic, it fur-
nishes for probably, the greater part
of the year a quite convenient and
attractive service, with tliose special
attractions in summer incidental to
automobile riding, and which have
been already referred to. Being un-
hampered by intermediate traffic, the
transit is commonly made in a
shorter period than that taken by the
Company's cars. The somewhat
greater expense of the Blue Fimnc^
fares, being a uniform rate of 2.^
cents for all persons and periods,
does not affect the necessary number
of persons to furnish patrons for the
line. Obviously, so long as the Blue
Funnel Line confines itself to the most
profitable through traffic, and the
B. C. Electric, with its costly and
permanent service, is able and willing
to subsist on the cheaper and more
scattered service, with such elements
of the other as find it more comfort-
able or convenient at certain times
and »!asons to avail themselves of the
service which is always there, the
public will be in the exceptionally de-
sirable position, as far as the through
traffic is concerned, of having two
alternative methods of transporta-
tion more or less constantly at their
service. The only serious question
whicll arises, there'torc, is the familiar
one ; Can these two services co-exist,
the one available at all times for all
forms of service, and the other fur-
nishing only a specialized feature of
that general service required by all
elements, available while 11 is m
operation, the duration of which de-
pends upon the individual who hap-
pens to lie the maintaining principal
at the lime? If so. then there is prac-
tically nothing more to be said, ex-
cept to congratulate a limited section
of the population on the quite excep-
tional good fortune which it is able
to enjoy.
Unfortunately, however, such very
exceptional conditions are impossible
of continuance. The most ample evi-
dence is fumislied to prove that it is
impossible for at least the British
Columbia Electric to continue to
meet its operating expenses, much
less to pay any dividends, out of the
section of the 'through traffic loft to
it, together with the local and inter-
mediate traffic, most of which is at
special low rates. This is demon-
strated in many special returns giv-
ing every phase of the traffic con-
ditions and the financial results for
the company. See especially Exhibits
.18, 96, 97, 98. 100, 107 and U.5. and
Proceedings 9 and 10. As always
under such conditions, one of three
alternatives must result: The par-
tial services of the automobile cars
must be eliminated and the local fares
revised, or the B. C. fllectric Com-
pany must abandon the service, or
the "city of Vancouver, as the domi-
nant municipal corporation, must
take over the B. C. Electric trans-
portation service and make such
arrangements as are necessary with
the municipalities affected and
finance the enterprise as a municipal
obligation.
That the Blue Funnel Line could
I
r
continue il, present !»n-ice, and even
in .1, 'r'""'"'^. «»" »ithoul sav-
mg, though even in that c..e there
are ccrl.,„ „hviou5 minor diffleullie,
to be encountered which would doubt-
le«br,ng,li„,odi.f„vorthemo.
ment a ready avenue of escape were
that the Blue Funnel Line ha. neither
the financa resource, nor the cap,,
c t.v to furnish any reliable guarantee
« to undertakmg the full .e^rvice now
™dcred by th, B,iii,^ j,^|
S!".""-.," ""'">= lightness of a
promise thai involve, „„ i„„ ,^
broken It should undertake to, peeu"
olc with some of the most vital in-
terests of the citizens, there is
nothing whatever to guarantee the
ueecss of the venture, and in the
cry serious event of failure prae-
l.caly all of the loss must be borne
by the citizens, who are left strands
-.ilhout remedy. .After what ha, al-
l)C further enlarged upon.
The Blue Funnel Line, however, as
hitherto, may succossfullv conduct
Its numerous non-competitive route,
beyond Xew Westminster. I„ ,„ d„.
»» <l has undertaken to furnish a
"pprecialed service in region, which
previously had hltle or no service o-
«ny kind. It ,, not, therefore, called
up°n to take the place of a much
more frequent «,d responsible ser-
vice, which It had been the mean, of
destroying. r„ supplying trans-
portation needs where thev were
wanting before, the Blue Funnel Line
|» meeting a very real want and add-
■ng to the wealth of the country
without the danger of supplan'ng a
«reater benefll than it, own In doing
,0 however, ,t will doubtles, develop
cIRcienl management into a service
»hlch will require for its gradual ei-
pan.ion, and in proportion to the
patronage which it receives, the col-
lection and investment of consider-
able permanent capital in building.
Repo.t o, p.. ad..„ s„o,tt
for office,, shelters, garage., store,,
repair shops, etc., which will furnish
that guarantee of .tabilitv and dura-
tion necessary to encourage local
investor, to develop new enferpri e,
and industries in the safe dependence
"pon a permanent and reliable mean.
Of comnmnication, without which
wo^wr^iS" """ ""'"'■""•""
I
KVE-V J,T.ViV SEaVICE WOUtD BE
JCOPA»DIZEI) BV COMPETITICV
But every progressive step taken
o.v .llr. Coldicutl's enterprise, in-
volving capital expenditure on which
a reasonable return must be obtained
'" '"^" '» <^"«ure either it, contin-
uance or It. expansion, would place
his service to exactly the same extent
a the mercy of free lance car drivers
with nothing at stake but a rapidlv
depreciating automobile, and wli"o
■'ought to share in the most easilv
obtained returns from the traffic
«hich was built up in consequence of
his permanent and well-developed ser-
vice. If such free lanco, were per-
mitted thus readily to encroach upon
his income at their own convenience,
■Mr. Coldicutl knows very well what
would become of his business and its
mratmenls. Already, indeed, on the
very threshold of his attempts to
build up a co-ordinated and effective
business, at the expense of the heavv
investments of the B. C. Electric, he i^
Bnding other free lance, who are seek-
mg to exploit his small organization.
1 hey are endeavoring to obtain the
benefit of hi, management and verv
modest equipment without contribut-
ing their share towards the common
expense, of the management and Mr.
Coldiculf, very legitimate allow-
ance, for the exerei.,e of his business
and organizing qualities. Every step
in advance which he make, will simply
add to the inducement, to these free
lance competitor, or pirates, a, he
naturally enough names them, to ex-
?• i tt.^r"'' °' '"'" """"hment.
Lndoubtedl.T, in the new line, which
— ^-■=--
The Intiiuuan JiTxrr
Mr. Coldicutt ha» opened up in the
regions not now sencd by similar
nieuns o/ transportal'on he should
be entitled to protection (or the de-
velopments which he introduces, and
which, if properly conducted, will be
of mutual advantage '.o his organ-
ization and the public. But the costly
and highly developed services which
the B. C. Electric has built up on a
complex basis essential to all stable
forms of modem transportation can-
not possibly continue to be conducted
on that basis if free lances, whether
in the shape of five-cent jitneys or
twcntv-flve-cent Blue Funnel liners,
arc permitted to ri«c the .raffle of its
most easily ot^tained and most profit-
able revenues, leaving to the Com-
panv all its heavy capital eipendilurc
and"tho most costly and least remun-
erative of the already shrunken
street railway business.
Pl-BUC UTILITY BEGl-L.VTIOX BV COM-
PETITION' WASTEFrL
It required many years to convince
the people of ^Vmcrica that there were
a number of very essential public
utilities which could only be con-
ducted in a manner in the long run
satisfactory to all parties interested
when they were treated in practice, as
they were in point of necessity, as
natural monopolies. So long as com-
petition was believed to be the oi\ly
feasible regulator of trade in a free
community, the people of the United
States and Canada squandered hun-
dreds of millions of wealth in futile
attempts to maintain competition in
the same civic centres between rival
waterworks, gas works, street rail-
ways, and i 1 their earlier days, tele-
phone anc electric service plants.
However, many years of civic corrup-
tion, wreiched services, shackled en-
terprise and forbidden improvements,
fina-icial embarrassment, company re-
construction, ending in serial bank-
ruptcy and wastcpaper shares, at last
taught all those who had any knowl-
edge of business affairs, and who
eventually convinced most of their
fellow-citizens, that only as natural
monopolies could these enterprises be
properly conducted ; and so they are
conducted today in nearly all of the
progressive American and Canadian
centres, while in most of the others
the competing utilities arc on the way
either to bankruptcy or amalgama-
tion. Two alternative avenues of
,::.cupe were followed from the dc-
monstratcu futility of competitive
paralysis. One is civic ownership and
operation of indispensable utilities,
and the other is private corporatcd
..-nership "and operation subject to
supervision in the public interest by
a public utilities commission. These
arc both good when the civic adminis-
tration is good and when the public
utilities commission is wisely selected.
Tliey are both had when the opposite
is the case. But even in the latter
case they are very seldom so had, at
least in their permanent refults, as
under free cmnpctitiun. .' s a con-
dition, therefore, of protecting the
British Columbia Electric within the
field.* of natural monopoly already
granted to it as a condition of its
large capital ospenditures, and as a
sound reason for protecting from de-
structive competition Mr. Coldicutt
and his company, if it should develop
into a real company, in opening up
new routes by their automobiles and
ultimately developing into an ade-
quate systen- of rural and interurbnn
transportation through unoccupied
territory, it will be necessary to bring
them ho'th under the regulation of a
public utilities commission, which will
only, however, protect their rights
when they arc operating in harmony
with the best interests of the com-
munity. This will be taken up more
fully later.
It being deeracil necessary in view
of the facts as elicited that in the
best interests of the citizens of Van-
couver and district, since the B. C.
Electric Company's street railway
i
m
»erv,co in lancouver City and Ih,-
rcmaming p„,„i, i„ ^^ „„' ■ " f "'
'I'c Company ""'' '"'■'"' °'
V. FARES. SERVICE, OVF ^r »v ^ .
-MPHO™ME.Vn BECO,,VEVDED „v '^'^'*^
'paOL-GH recognizing the wrious
Exhibits 37 to ln» J ,, '""""^ '"
•■■.iproco,:^!;''*:^,''""'';
manonl c„„,li,i„,„ .hioT 1™ ;f T
tic, in *1 . ""■•"'■■'"■= possib.li-
"""■ted co„pa , z ;!""" "■'■"''"
mmm
Ihi- /„iH, ""''™'"=" '■ontinuity „f
-.iS:™r:it:;:i^;'f-'
no nf« . . I '-\""ii.H at various
H^".;.::Lro/'^i,?^'-r
c^rt'''',n'rh"'''V^"'-vat
Fabes, Seevice, One-man Caii
various cIunscs of city tickets should
be est a bit shed, with free transfers on
continuous trips to uU other parts of
this urea, the population limits
!ilioutd he taken, not the restricted
municipal limits of Vancouver City.
At till.' request of the Commission
Mr. .Murrin has prepared a map of
the city (Exhibit lAA) showing the
limits suitable for such a central free
transfer area. Tlie proposed limits,
US' looki.-d at from the point of view
of the existing car lines, oppear to
he very reasonable and fair, but
thould bo submitted for consideration
at t.ic time of the conference pro-
posed below, wilit refcrc icc to the
readjustment of rates on the sub-
urban lines. Beyond these limits we
liuve to deal with the suburban areas
proptr, unc! 'or those rates mr-' I.v
jirran-teil . 'he street railway llnc^
which ^ervo Hk-m which will hear, not
the full, hut n- "lie approximate rela-
tion to tile cost of the servict ren-
dered. In pnicticully alt cases t!i\
will involve the cancelling of trans-
fers from urban or interurban lines
to city lines — nieuninjj, of course, bv
tlip city lines those within the city
population area already referred to.
In the charters granted to the
British Columbia Electric by the
municipalities adjoining ^'ancouve^,
or in subsequent agreements, c?rt!iin
special settlers' rates, currying with
them the right of transfer to citv
lines, were granted to residents of
these municipalitic".. It was found,
however, that owing to subsequent
provincial legislation, these tickets
could not lie restricted to the per-
manent residents. Hence the rates
became common on all lines of the
Company.
In the discussion of relative fares
it is assumed that while the cost of
the sen-ice, under the principle of its
iR'ing a natural monopoly, is ad-
justed mainly to the total cost of the
system and not to the cost of opcra-
tio'i of each section, yet the rcason-
abienesn of charging a higher fare
for longer distance and sparse settle-
ment is partly due to the greater cost
of service per passenger and partlv
to the economic advantage which the
passenger enjoys in the lower cost of
living in suburban areas. Thus lower
rents and other econonves are bal-
anced against higher cost of trans-
portation and a few other special
services. Should, however* the mu-
nicipalities or the Company insist
upon the letter of the charters, the
municipalities may refuse to admit
of any modification of the rates con-
ceded to them when economic pros-
pects were I righter. L'ndcr such con-
ditions the Company on its part may
cease to operate any of the lines
found to entail too beovy a loss. In
such an event the municipality mav
(ither take over the line at a V«Iua"-
tion under arbitration, or order the
Company to take up it.s tracks and
grant the right of operating the line
to some other company. L'nder pre-
■ient conditions neither of these alter-
natives would be of any advantage to
the citizens, who would find thcm-
selvca entirely deprived of a service
upon which the value of their pro-
perty and the convenience, and in
some cases the necessities, of their
lives depend. It is evident, therefore,
that an adherence to the letter of the
charters will afford no solution of the
present difficulties, which involve the
alternatives of an insuperable finan-
cial loss to the Company or an entire
suspension of street car transporta-
tion to the districts in question. In
the face of such a situation, the only
reasonable solution wouhl appear to
be that the representatives of the
municipalities iiffecteiU namely. Point
(irey. South Vancouver and Hurn-
aby, .ihouhl confer with the manage-
ment of the Company with u view to
the recognition of the limits of the
city population area above referral
to and the consequent readjustment
of fares, transfers and time tables, or
nny other details which they mav
temporary .rr.„g,«„„ „," "«
n.«do whch ,„uld cnabJc the Com-
pany to conlmua . r™„„„bk „„™
on pr.c,,ea)lv .„ of i., „„^;^^
urb«, d,.encl. . corrcponding "^
rt; 0«.,„ „„ r„o„™,,, ,„^ .,^,,^
°/ "«- «*o, ,«., Jo™ „„. """' """"'^
Heferonce m.j, bo m«do lo ccoro-
m.«.l,.ch.ho(.omp.„jrm.yboabte
t" n.roducowi.havioi.oLorZ
oo, of operation .ith„u,„„,„,;^8
r«^"c.n« tl,e quality „f ,b, .,„ J
Apart from ,b„ „„,;,, „, J^
ng.<l economy throughout all the
department. „f ,hc Tr.n.poJ ItLn
number rather than i„ '.he q "l ,v
cZ nt ^r''" "< "- ""-man
far., u°''°"°P"»'«'-«n'i«"
./ '' P"'"'; 0 °n the outlying route,
"here the lightnes. ot the tr"fflc
should render it quite po.,iWe "j
Ca ™ "• J'" '•™">i«i»ner vi t^
2 f^'^' "'■"""'= operation of o„^
man ear. ha. I«„ doreloped to the
«re.le.ldegreei„c.nada. Muohn!
eT oTt'hfr ]'"''""'^- '"P">"'ond:
R.il»a ,.«"■'' •^'""'"■P"' Street
Ka.l.a.v ,h„ mlroduced and de-
-o»ped the ,y.tem there. Detaifcd
mformalion a, to the natu"rc„n
»truct,o„ and operation of IW ^°"
man car, m Calgary and the outel.
of the exponence there .a, obtained
VrPnT? Comm„„oner from Mr.
piw , Z *"■' "■ '"'='■"''■' ■•" ">=
™„rber.tn'1;;f7'r"-
S.^. Railway D:;ar.lt^„t:hi
employee, with reference ."the
op.rat,„n of the one-man car, ;„.:
« "py of a letter from the BriH
Company, „f Philadelphia, tc the
Par.ic„lar?i"^';r:'';"/-.«^'n«
one-man car, i„ the UnilJ s ,?,;,
on 1 'rP'-'''™»ive li.l of article.
^?nn^^/J-£
1 I'if '""'"S" 0' ".e one-man''ca
and hecorre.,p„„di„gdi,„,,,„„,^"'
^.ystiiuu^e doubt,'!;: t^;;:;„r
.;^^c°„^x?iM:re'rra^:.^"
of any co„„derablc ,iie. A, to th^
practicability of the nl»„ I
f.,.. ... »i ■ plan, however
/oroutlymga„dmore,par,ely,,,:
'led <!.,trict,, there can be'ht.L
°ort?.h°''™°r "■"'■■»»'"'
compt^t:r-^;czt^
F^"^':;^i:^'rs
po«,blo route, appended and a„e,tf
rM'b%rcr„;"='' "■-'-''■«
On the other hand the r„™~- ■
rt'r'ti;^-^''-^""^'™^^^
Eleclri; B ■ "T" "=="'"' "f ">«
'^X:i;^:snAh:":::r
the Company w,th reference to the
Farm, SstvicE, Unf-jian Cau
41
pouible introduction of unvman
cars (see Exhibit 149). As has been
the caMc in practically all other cen-
tres M'licn the change wai first pro-
posed, and indeed for some little time
after its introduction, the employc'Ci
look upon the change with disfavor.
That the change would involve some
reduction in the number of employcci
is obvious, though were the jitney
competition abolished the balance
would probably be readjusted. It
were better, however, to reduce the
number of men, while increasing
somewhat the remuneration of those
operating the one-man car, than to
suffer loss of employment for a con-
siderably larger number in virtue of
the enforced closing of sections of
line by reason of the heavy loss in
operation.
Of the reasons given by the em-
ployees for their opposition to the
prospective cliiingc, must strops id
laid on the probable increase of dan-
ger in various forms. Practically the
only other fcnt'jre urged is the reduc-
tion in speed. In summing up their
position they claim that the one-man
car "where at present in operation
has been a failure and is opposed by
both the pubhc and the men who
operate them." This conclusion, how-
ever, like many of the other claims
ai to certain elements of danger, does
not iicem to be borne out by the facts,
either in (.'anada or elsewhere. Apart
from the very practical experience of
Calgary, where, it is true, these cars
were much opposed at flrst, but are
now quite favorably received, we have
numerous reports from various places
in the United States as to the accept-
able nature of the service rendered
by them, with hitherto diminished
accidents., .The experience of fifty
different electric railways in the
United States and Canada in which
there has been a complete or partial
employment of the one-man car has
been summed up and the roNiitts have
been given in the Electric Railzcay
Journtd of April 21, 1917. A copy
of the article in question is included
ns Exhibit 1 JO. Certainly, whatever
may bo said us to the wisdom of cm-
ploying the one-man car for the
general traffic of a city, there
appears to be no sound reason
against its use on the lighter runs,
and more particularly as an alterna-
tive to abandoning much-needed
routes.
fc) Speed limit too low; stopa too frequent; through lervice recommended.
A desirable improvement in sub-
urban traffic would be a reduction in
the time taken to reach certain out-
lying districts, particularly on the
route from Vancouver to New West-
minster and through it to the further
outlying districts, especially on the
N'ew Westminster and Chilliwack
route. While the present speed limit
prescribed in some of the charters is
obviously too low, yet part of the
delay, especially between Vancouver
and New Westminster, is due to the
constant stoppages at street comers
once the car enters the Vancouver
City area. In other words, every
interurban car or train of two cars,
in passing through the more thickly
peopled parts of Vancouver, is re-
quired to act as an ordinary street
car instead of being operated as
nearly as possible as a through car
line, leaving the local city traffic to
be taken care of by the ordinary
street cars and some of the unim-
portant intermediate stops to be
served by special cars.
A plan for the improvement of the
service in point of speed Iwtwccn
Vancouver and New Westminster and
the district beyond has been prepared
by Mr. Murrin at the request of the
Commission and is included as Ex-
hibit 147. This indicates that pend-
ing further and more far-reaching
plans for an improved through ser-
vice, the present service might be bet-
tered by a combination of higher
VI. VICTORIA A.\D VAXCOUVER 1ST .iv,.
Or. M„„ ^,„,. "• ™ '^•"»« O' VA.VCOUVIE
"""""' ?"«• ""<< <;;».■«,*(„. ,„,!:/ '*''?^ "■""°' »' Mp,f,,j ,„ ,„,
«l"«".v applicable .„ hi h "aT"^
«nic l,mc, o»ine to th. ,
far a, ,e„„ „. ,^^ jT a.
"n« and di,.ri.t indcpc„,K,v :,
Uncouvcr and di.trid. Il ,„/,|°
the Ma.vor and Toinoil of Victoria
thai .,op„r„e<, consideration ,l,„uH
be K.vc„ to their condition,. .4o ""^
mglj-, special .itli„„, o, ,h„ c ""d
'.on were held in Victor a t^eTn:;
one, however, l.v ,„ul„.| consent ,n
Wouver. At these the in,«lmyn;
and operation, of ,he Comp."",^
— er set, but „.„, „,b, ,'7^; :"
;;epen,Jc„ta„d.pp^.„VictoWr„:,
,.'",""■■ report it .ill „„, b^ „
condition, „„dor".7,ich S
c'ciot^/i'b"'™ """"'" '"'■""
lows. therefore, win b„,.„
«dSw:°""™*°"»'"^'^-
'','•,""',."» amcmlment,, „nder
ferrcl by ,t, provincial license and
he general law, of the p" .;:e"e'
lech.';, ■"""•' "T'" f™'" »"V "
i' ch S f °" ""^ '""'■"lan.l. this
.'Chiefly due to (he fact that when
^^<^rT;----,p--
dT.Tar.1nX— -Vi
e"n.pany.,oI860,.ndi„theca,e'';j
VlrTo«i.t Ana VAxrofVKR Ihi.and
the ckclric railwar anil light and
po»cp Mrvicc to lliv year 1HH8. Ai
rcgani. the latter thi' prcmnt litua-
tion and lla rrolution may bo lum-
mariicd aa follovn;
The agreement* under which the
rompanjr earriea on it» huiineu in
the (iljf of Victoria and in the a.1-
joining municipalitin and diatrieti
are embodied in a provincial act of
8th April, 1«M, and an amending
act of 1910. The act of IHM nfera
to an agreement datnl Norcmher SO,
1H«8, between the iniinieipal corpora-
tion of Victoria and certain deaig-
nated individuala. The latter were
authoriled to eonatniet and operate
a .trcel railway within the limita of
the citjr. Theae partiea wen^ then
incorporated under the provincial
I'oiiipuniea Act, with power to liiiild
ami operate an eltctric railwoy and
aupply ehrtricily for liglit. This
coiiiiiuny was nliiiicl the National
tkctric Tramway and Linht fniii-
pany. By a auhM'iiiient act of 1H9I)
the coiiipany waa authorial to eon-
atniet and operate trainwava in the
diatrieta of Victoria, XoVth and
South Saanich, Lake, Highland.
Eaquimnit, Sooke and lletchoain, and
connecting with it, |i„ca in Victoria
Ctty. The acta cinhmlying theae fran-
chiaea and agreementa were conaoli-
dated by .the act of 1894 and the
name of the company changcfl to the
^'ictoria Electric Hallway and Light
Company. All rights and obligaliona
under the previoua acta were eon-
aerved except in »o far as niodifieil
nnil enlarged under the act of 1«94.
The canilal of the company »aa
tieaignatcil at $1,000,000. h„t it had
the right to cxpami Ita capitalization
and to aell fully p„id up ami non-
aaieaaaWe aharca at Igaa than their
nominal voliie. The uaiinl righta were
grnnlnl to lay aingle or double tracks
on the city atreets and hriilgea, aiili-
.iect to the approval of the City
Engineer aa to their location within
the city limita and to the approval
of the Chief Commiaainner of Landa
and Works in the surrounding dis-
Iricla. The aervice. to he rendered
by the company included the carry-
ing of paaaengi'ra, freight, expreaa
and mail matter, but without any
limltotinn aa to 'he ttrceta over
wliieh any of theae aervicea might be
conducted. The company ii not re-
quired to ronilniel or maintain any
portion of the city alreela further
than when laying or repairing ita
track* to leave the road-bed in as
good condition as before diaturbance
and to maintain it in that conilition
between the tracka und for eighteen
irchea on either aide of them for three
mnntha after conatruction, aubjeet to
the aatiafaction of the City Surveyor.
The company had niao the neeeaai-ry
authority to operate electric light
worka. It might receive granta in
money or laiida, from individuala or
corporationa, including muniripah-
liea. and tliu.e iiiiglil l,„|,| ,|,„n-a in
the company or . •■.nupt it from
taxation.
When the nririali ( .,luniliia Elec-
tric Railway Company took over thia
conipniiy, imder authority of ita
licenae granted in 18»8 it" acquired
all theae righta and privilegea. They
remained unnlternl until lfl«9. when
the City of Victoria and 'the B. C.
Electric entered into an agreement,
datetl Auguat 9. ratified Auguat Sfi
by the neeeaaary two-thirda vote of
the ratepayers of tile city. The act
to validate thia agreement waa paaaed
JIareh 10, 1910.
I'nder thia agreement, in con-
sideration of certain extenaivc capital
iuveatmenta which the Companv un-
dertook to make for the lienedl of the
City and ad.iDining diatrieta, the
City of Victoria, in terms applicable
to the City of A'ancouvcr from 1900,
agreed that it should not, prior to
1988, undertake to purclmae. eon-
atniet or operate any worka aimilar
to those then carried on by the H. C.
Electric Company until' the City
Coiineil had by bylaw fixed a price at
which it would take over the pro-
perty of the Company, allowing the
Company thirty doya within which
'""'» "'"'""i-n "f th. price "„
'I". ««rct.m„nt. however. M,e ( i(y /,"
'•;""1 .t. riKht ,„ «„,har i „y
.01 the nght ,„ ,,onu, or vxemp
I lie t itjr a|.„ pr„,„^ „ . ^ -
"«"' ■" P°'<" lor ;i. o.n corporate
u«e. Imt not for ..fc "'P"'"!"
.l.y, »ft.r the offer of th. City di
J'' . K° "T"" "" P"" P™P»««i o^
fl«d by .rh,lrati„„, th. Ht, Council
m.yc,erri«it.fullp„„r,J„der"h.
Mu.Mcip„| Clauw Act The oMil.
'r- »l.ieh .ere „„der.,S ,^''K
erect,,,,, w„hi„ „,,,, '^^
•'""• '!■' """ry t„ the City o?,"..
lU.uno hor,c,>o»cr. at „„ c,ti,n„t„| .
">-t of $J.3nn,,m. Thi, electrca
Po»er wa, to he employed i„ ,T,
exten.,o„ of the railway; h„h, „,
,r„:V"'"''!''"«'"'*l-Conp,ny
m and arouml the -ity of Victori,;
When the new plant c.nc into opora-
rilhln 7h ";"'""«'■'""■' P"«r
the d„>r,ct, around it ,h„uU „'^t
exceed lho«e charmyl in v
r;t« — 1 J- . "■'^ffw' in \ ancouver
C,ty and adj„,„i„g di.lncl. rMpecl-
■"ly. A ,che,lulo of thc« rale, „,
J^pended t„ the .^rccnent. The
c t^ 1- -^ . """"" ""<' '''I''"" "t it.
">y liKl,t »t„ti„n, electricity for ,'t.
J.tonc.h«f,l,cco,tofproduct,-„rbV
"""' '«T IP TO DATE
' '"• '''•' '" otherwi.. „,.„ti;.
"""ly per.on. will u ,„„„,, f^" ^
... p«,„„t.^ hy ,h. City JXit'^^'
"' >,ctor,« ,„ criliciiin, certain
clau«.,„ the charter of th!ori;2T
n,o.lcm Kr,e,„„ce. i, ,h„, ,hc "rili!
"»•'• "Wtion 18 of the act of 1891
T", ""Uni.. that thi. H«ht I
plainly ,n.erle,l i„ the .ection. .hi,-
■pecde, what the .crvice, to L, r™
Jercy the company »h.ll he. „a",.
rdji , "■"■'^■'°"<- "' l.....on«,.r,.
,,n,^ "iP"" ""'' """'I """'or It
"PPeor,, howeyer, that the B. "
K,ctr,c rompany ,!„„ „„t „,„ ;,
'"","' '"•'•'•"1 of it, ri«l,l, ,„„,,.,
■ ""•'■■■>■■•"■ "1.0 that it „n.tui.,;
«r,„,t. cer,,un privile„e,''„„i l^Z
Z' , "' "• *'"'■ "• -Trvin/frcc
"'""" '" •}""'■ firemen, p,,,,?,™™
uniiir twelve ye,„ „,
fare, an,l .chool children „„d work
-en at ,peci.l ,ate,. The M.;,7„,
' 'ctor,., however, rc.ent. the accent
Brace when he mi^ht have the
PU,„„ of demanding thc-n, a. C
That th. franchi«, under which the
rompany operate, in Victoria „„.J
I'.lncl ,, antiquated and un.uit.Ze
to n,o.lem condition, i, „|,vi„, J
-o.,„h. If. therefore, the Co„;L:;
" l» be permitted and encoura^rf"'!
eont,„„e ,t. .eryice. to the cfty, ]"
'hould on it, pari be .i|li„„ ,'
aecep. ,„ch a reyi.ion of it, 'Zt ^
"' """ »«»uro l„ the citizen, o Vc
>"'" the ,„me legal ri<,ht, „^H
«uarantec,a,eni„yedby.lLitir„'
Poilt r ""'i '" "">' "«'i°"" a.
wh,'cb ^"^ ""•' ''""■ Vancouver,
«h,ch .re Dractically the ,an>e a,
tbo,e provided for in th. charter o
* ancouver City with th. """.'"
^'ly, w,tl] the exception
iSfirfifi^
Vir-roRiA Ano V*KCofVEa htAWD
4S
.if thv *pecittl flnaneml iirranffcnwnts.
jiiicli «> I Ik.' prrcvntaffL* u( f{rn««
i<itrniiitf« piiynhlo to Oic fity treasury
anil which arc inciclcnl only to a \nrffe
rrntrc of |H>piiUli<)ti. !)• Utk-t*
Victoria at xoinc time in the future,
unilcr improveil economic comlitinn*
foitcred hy enllffhtcntfl and pro*
i^reutvc civic policy, will expand to
the point at which the revenue from
nn cfflcieiit ■trcct car ^yntcin, whether
in the hand* ot the City Corporation
itiielf or in thow of a private com-
pany, will b« nueh a* to juitify a
^uitahlv graded contrihution to the
-•enerfti «xpenw>fl of the City ; but it
ha* plainly not reochetl that itajjc lU
pri'U'nt. In the meantime, however,
hv iiuch chnntjr* in the charter a*
indicated, Victoria City would olitnin
control over the location of future
fxtonxionn of the street riuUny %y%-
tfin: would •tccurt- the future mnin-
ti-njinrc of the ro.id-lird under the
railway and fnr ciKht inches on
citlier «lcle nf the raiN in a* tfnmi
t-ondition ah tlic remainder of the
■itroct ; would hnvr the rates of fare
Ie:rally specified, the u»c of hrid^H
and the conditions for hauUnj;
fretKht suhjcct to rmitunl iiptrct-mcnt
hi-tween the City official* and the
Company, and quite generally hove
Nucli definite control over the City
(ttrect* and other City property m is
implied in the fact that in all ar-
riinf^ments reached the City officiid.i
would have to be sutinfted an to tin-
conditions to he fulfilled on both
<tide!i.
It is very cviik-nt that the flr^t
condition of the B. C. Electric- Rail-
way Company, as a transportation
company, being able to comply with
all the conditions of a revised charter
ucctptablc tu the City, is that ttie
Company itst'lf shall h« able to exist
at all. It i* jtcrfectly true that the
Company, in the fne« of th« imfor-
tuntite (.'conomic conditions of titc
t'liciric cuast cities since lOll, must
expect to face temporary economic
sacriflcci in common with other non-
speculative institution!. It is, how-
ever, quite unreasonable to cite either
the gains or the losses of real estate
demltn as a basis of comparison with
such a stable and rontinuous utility
41 a itrcct railway service. That the
operations of dealers in real estate
must be continuni without intermis-
sion no one wilt seriously suggest. Iiut
that the transportation needs of the
citizens of a niodi-rf* civic centre, who
have adjuittrd their daily lives to this
service, sliould be carried on stindily
iind eontinuiHiHly, alike tlirnu[ih
periods of prosperity and depression,
calls for iir» proof. McrrhnnU and
others wIm) cater to the daily wnntt
of the citizens i,i other lines mii^t
also continue their services, und in
doing to the prices of tlieir goods and
the rates of their services arc deter-
mined on tite basis of what it costn
to meet the requirements of the citi-
zens. We arc all painfully awnre
that these prices and rates have Iwcn
steadily advancing. In the face of
present conditions it is impossible to
expect that a public utility system
can itself meet increasing prices of
siinnlies and rates of wages, as also
a <liminisl)in(r revenue, from gn-atly
reduced numlK>rs of patrons and less
spending power on the part of those
who remain, and in tlie very niidft of
such a crisis have a large part of its
most profitable business taken away.
"The most ample evidence is furnished to nrove that It is
impossible for at least the B. C. Electric to continue to meet its
cieratin;? expenses, much less to pay any dividends, out of the
se.tion of through traffic left to it, together with the local and
intermediate traffic, most of which is at special low rates."
I nmpnng catnol ,o,/i,,, ,,
(■"!/ of fic,„n, ,. ,„«. J "'''""'''"'■''"'"" "" <""„( i,.i, ,. , ,
;™.o„,.wc. „„,,;:.,''"' ",:!;;;;'-/'3'
'■•'"" the ,„i„,| „, ,,,„ ', " '7 '»■■
■"■^""•'"V,i uC.i '„;:;■ ;.""■'
rai wav lii,™ . i lu "«"'"' ''"■ft
»pcr..^^trtv."'i 'Lo°rr;,"""
«r.;o„ «. . t'wo . '"PP'T"'""-
vcrv «.„ 1 " '""•"'I'll-, it I,
-t«kc. "P"""' ha, ,a lilll^. ,,
Innsniiich as ||„ ,,,„„, _
not varv fr„m . . '"" <■""-
"1= Jitncv, i„„y froi^lv
.p^riaJ ,.rli,,„ '';," '"'■'■"•'' """-
(•"■Mnt foil,,.,,,, ,!"■•"'''■"'"'■- .'1
p"'"ii.'i I.. .1,, ,,: ,""'«, ""''•'■iv
■'■"in« n„ „,.„ "'"'■'"■ I'lK, „ii,l
lout.-, »l,i..|, . , ^'"''^'M ,li,,n,.,
'"■' '-" ^ role sr.r;:, v'^-'
li"'-. Kr..„, llV J""''"'" •*'™iK.
• '' ""'W ht „ rcl
Mi
\'iCTOiiA AND Vancouver Ihland
47
addition to the paiiwngcr service. An-
other jitney route is that along Gov-
cmmcnt Street and out the Gorge
Road. So far aH it nerves the Gorge
Hoad district it serves new territory;
othcrwiw it cuts into the ihort-haul
service of tlic Company on one of iti
moat lucrative routes. The jitneyx
should therefore operate on the
Gorge Hoad only, or, coming down
Douglas Street one htock, pass along
Bay to (juadrii and in hy that route.
\Vc now conte to the most im-
portant route wrvcd hy the jitneys
and the motor hustcs, namely, the
Quadra Street route, which not unlv
paHws through an important section
of the City, very im[K.Tfcctly .served
hy the street cars, hut connects the
City with an important suhurban
area of indefinite pOHsihlc extension.
A» indicated l)y Mayor Todd, the
B. ('. Electric Coiiipaiiy neglected n
fiivf)ral»le opportunity in not cxti-nd-
ing iti* service along tliiit route in-
stead of to the 1'plandN, a region
M'hieh might for some time have been
scr^'til by motor busses. As it is, the
nmch more important Qua<lra Street
iJistrict has been compelled to depend
upon the inferior service.
By starting from the corner of
Vatcs and Douglas Streets, passing
up Vatcs to Quadra and thence out
Quadra indefinitely, this route has
the advantage not only of affording
independent access to the City with-
out substantially interfering with the
street car service, hut it provides, as
already imlicatcd, the quite pcr-
misfiihle connection along Bay Street
with the Haultain Street route anil
pnssihly the Gorge Street route, with
other possible extensions hy jitney
or motor bus out Oak Street or Cedar
Hill Hoad.
With the elimination of the dupli-
cate jitney service on the streets and
in the districts scrA'cd hy the street
ears and the free operation of the
jitiu'vs or motor busses on the
Quadra route connecting with the
otherwise unserved outtving districts
tributary to it. it would be possible
for the street car company to main-
tain itself, for the present at least,
on a quite unprofitable basis, it is
true, but without actual loss, until
the return of more favorable eco-
nomic conditions. On this buHis also
the charter of the Company eould
be amended in order to put it on the
some basis as the more reasonable
charters in Vancouver and adjoining
municipalities.
Should, however, the declarations
of the JIayor and City Solicitor be
taken to mean that no restriction on
the jitneys as to routes and regions
where they would not compete with
the Company sboidd be considered,
then in spite of the experience of the
Company as to its losses under pre-
sent conditions, it may be assumed
that were the property in the bunds
of the City not only should the jit-
neys be allowed freely to eorupcte
with the street curs on such sections
of the route as they fouml to be most
profitable, but at the same time the
present high rates paid to the em-
pUyecs should bo continued, or, in
the opinion of the Mayor at least, .
materially increased, and the fre-
quency of the service on several of
the least profitable lines increased,
and possibly the fares reduced and
other improvements introduced, as
suggested in his memorondum of
grievances with reference to the
street cars. Should the majority of
the citizens be convinced that the
views expressed by the Miivor are
sound and proctical, then the only
fair and reasonable alternative to the
programme of readjustment us given
a(>ove would be for the City and Com-
pany to resume the recent tentative
negotiations with a view to the pur-
chase by the City of Victoria of the
public utilities of Vaneou%'er Island
Tit present owned and operated hv the
B. C. Klcctric Company. Certainly
nothing is more obvious from the
facts as presentcfl than that the
Company cannot continue its trans-
portation service on the present basis,
nml it is useless to speak of certain
f
48
"""" "' D'- ^-^U SHO.TT
>ory „ccM..r.v .mprovemcnl. in the
charter of the Company without an
a«.ura„ee of condition, under which
tho Company miffht continue to
operate, ,f „ot at a profit, at least at
no material !„.,. Tliat the City can-
not p„,„ , y conduct the busines, at
" P™ »h)e rale on the ba«i, ap-
proved by the Mayor i, the eonvie-
t|"n of the Corami.,i„„, but with the
c,t,zen, ...lling ,„ " 'ho
f;;'7"»''''o-Vv»r, ueilher^l^
»tre.t rndway employee, nor the jit.
,»Lfi 7"".'°'"'' '"i"'"^ *- b.
wnfiecd, a, ,„ the carrvinff out ot
hiHpl«n,.uchdefleit,„w„;:7ari°e
could „,way, be met from the City
The situation a, regard, the urban
and .uburban transportation serWee,
in the d„triel, centering around
Uncouver may be summarired a,
follow, ;
. n '/^ ' JT'" ?"""''»' condition of the
a- C. Electric Railway Company, a,
regard, ,t, .Ireet railway ,y,tem, i,
impo„ible of continuance on the
h»,i, of the pa,t throe year, or the
nnmedmte pro.pect, for the future.
The deficit, of the street railway
rr,T r" l."°"''l ""' '"' ••l>"Kc,ble
. the light and power bu.inS,, of
the Company, which must he dealt
»i h as nearly a, possible on a quite
inilependcnt basis.
.t™.' ''^1'° "r"""" ""<* interurban
street railway business, a, proved by
long and wide experience, cannot be
conducted upon a ha,i, of free com-
»uch essentially a natural monopoly,
to he conducted on well-recog^,^
principle, a, a unified ^ryicf; the
Zr"t ^T'T '""""""(t mutual
support. In the case of public utili-
ties free competition ha, never
proved a permanent protection to
publie interests: quite the reverse. A
public utility commission is the only
iKlt "''*"""""' ""•«'"'™'l
(3) Jitney competition on a con-
siderable scale in conjunction with a
losfofT T,°^ I' ""'p'™'-" -■">
loss Of population has destroyed the
normal basis on which the strit rail-
".V system was built up and can
•Innc be maintained. A, a jitney
service it cannot take the place of
the street railway ..ryfce. '^„" „,
SUM.MAHy AS TO THA.VSPOHTATIO.V
the p„,„be alternative, to the street
ra*,ay which would he adequate To
replace it, varied .ervices, a, for i„!
»'«.>o. a motor bu, develoZ;"
would involve the repro,luetion^f™ I
the essentm feature, of the British
Columbia Electric Railway Company
»» an organized capitalist bu,ine,,
Zr°'',T- ^"''^ " "-"Panvl,
turn could not maintain an Extended
and satis actory service in eomp^
tilion with the free-lance jilnev.
confining lliemselves, as „ow,%„^"e
cream of the business.
(■1) Either the jitneys in compe-
t tion with the street ."ars mu," "^
ehminate,! and until more prospeou,
conditions return certain '^o her
changes and economies introduced
^iut„tr"'""'^''""'""0'»'>er
(to out of business, or if forced to
opera e on a ba.i, which will X "
'tn"y,°,r'*'''' ""•'''•''"»" °'™
five T^'"^ r? '"°"' "nremunera-
f^ section, of their line,, rcliice the
frequency of the service on others
rtiscontinue all transfer,, and exaeta
6' o-cent minimum fare for „11 pe^.
"""'• '"■■ '«"i"K children ii,id..r twel,^
year, school children, workmen, etc
„■,• ;V. " Tcnernl alternative the
eilie, of Vancouver and Victoria, un!
der arrangement with the adjoining
niunieipalitie,, may take over h?
treet railway ,y.tem, in their re-
'peetive centres and conduct them a,
municipal enterprise,, leaving the iit
nev, their present freedom Vo take
"hat they plea.e„f the street ear
revenue,. "r
(«) If the jitney competition i.
''"QUA A.VO VaNCOCVEII I»1.aX1> ^g
fliminated at the chief source of Ihc f\ i j iv . ■
.nnu.1 |„,™ „, He Comp„y. ,ho„ J„' -*' ,"^?'"!' ^'f""'- "P"'
«■ regard. Vancouver diilrict the . . ''""'"'"'°" ">' J""«y ™n>-
remoindcr of the losaei, due to the P«'i'">n "> the di<trict> served bjr the
prcynihng war conditions and the '^"^^ ""'• '""* the revision of the
diminished population, might be fair- Company's charter in order to bring
ly well met until more prosperous ■' 'I'o harmony with the more modem
times recur by the filing of a city charters of the mainland, practically
"hii: s^yoldTh'raitr'a" ^^j"u:t'-' '-""''-'■ "- '°""' "' "»'«'•
ment with reference to rates, fre- (8) In both districts special
(luency of service, etc., could prob- economics, such a. the one-man cars
amy be effected in conference between on specified routes, to be airreed
Z,7Z'lv™' :;'.w"'° "•'J"'"'"'' "P"" '■'' *' f''y ""■* ">= Company,
mumcpalitics and the management should be carefully considered and if
nf the Company. possible approved:
VII. LIGHT AND POWER
PI-VXT CON,,TBUCTION AND OROWTH OF DE.1IAXD REVIEWED
»f *>"'"' .""'«'';°"' »/ ■".pr,„,fe„„d jroT*;. of r,mco„trr ,„cr™„d co,<
1. ir. '■", ^"" ""■ """•"""■'>' "■''- «« of dectric current
/iiyAfr (1/ I ancourer than at Winnipeg. "
'pHEHE remains to be considered ' invested in this plant amount, to
* tile operation of the Company »16,6«S,3I0 This U m!^„
as regard., it, electric light 'and follows sJeExW 5A) " "'
power development, and their rcl,.- Hydro- electric Lake
tion, to the need, and requirement, Buntzcn - Cooum.m
of the public, as also the more limited .oris ^ « ,« «««
^n'd virriaX;:'""' °' """""'- s^rt t^'""*- /«"— "^;K
The electric light and power in- '""^^ZT''—- ,,,,.,,
largo and their importance to the hulion .... 3 371 mo
a, ,1, the case of the transportation fica 'ons ar ^ „ E«t':" 0
matter,, furnishe, a very complete and IDA tMuliit, 19
Xence"' '"'°™"''™ '" '"'"" .Z™"" ExWhit 10 we «„d th,t
Light and power are f„mi,hed to Ind .^pZrT'Tanc""' "l 'i«'"
. e City of Vancouver and the other amoun'ter in '",0 6 "o *" 475 s?
districts on the mainland by the B. C. made i.n f™~ ■ "'»'•*'*•"'''•
Electric Railway Company', through sTr^'t li„hti„gTl,.Tr«r?„d co":,''
the ^ ancouver Power Company, one mcrcial power «303 IW V
of It, subsidiaries. The total capital district, 7or"po*rfnd hgr^"
"rey. South Vancouver, Buraabv
ucira. .\e, WMlminslcr obtain. it>
po»cr from the B. C. Electric „',.
"1 '-"1 .ub-.la.i„n and it.e
comn-erdal power Wj^sTlt "u
thu, bo .een that about fourteli-
»n the mainland are derived from
Vancouver and district ^ '"""
. 'r^^^SP'-™' Vancouver and di»
:rj9^«-3«.2k.».h.were„:it
»H purp„«, ,„o,„di„„ ,t„„i ^„.,.
»»y. Of these 38.183,884 Ich
-ere employed for li«l,t and power'
™.ud,„j^ street lighting (s4 e"'
mterest for the eil.zenj of Vancouver
"nd d„ rict are primarily ^^Zl
o! the plant, the cost and condition,
ofoper.t,„„, the character „"'
""■'" ™*«<1. «nd. above all th^
nTsM'^Mir' ''"'"■" P--'"'-
Wee i„M l' l'"""' '^'»"" ■>' »=■-
5^Sc::r'^^-H
and th ' '"J""""ver-,nd distrio;
»f operal,„n, cost, and returns. The
J n B ^»"™"''" employed Jlr.
A''C«o''„'*"o'f°'vf;"tcr^"*'
Vancouver City Sonc^or^Mr Z,'
the Seattle system, which is naturally
most commonly compare,! with that
of \ancouver, and was the occasion
B C E.T ,^' "'"""'"tivc. of the
h , ob.erv.t,„n. and comment.. Much
other mformation of . comparative
-'- wa. f„r„i.h«, h/ oth':;
COMPA.Z .„E. W,T„ ,>v«a„, XOI
l,owMT crmi
A. Vancouver City i, naturally
mlerested m obtainin/electric po.„
and-fight at the lowest possible ?ates
the representative, of the Citv made
,T„ I-,!/ •'" [■"" "■•' Winnfpeg 1,
light and power, at 31/:. cent, ner
k-.h.andSe,ttU.t5..;-cen,,'hee
C-»7/™''*J"l'^ the lo-west ra, , ta
,Z1^\ """ "'° ^'"•""i State, r,^
»pcct,vely. In takio the aenerd
«per,ence„ftheeonli„enl,h™e"
^.s found that while Seattle and Los
AnRelcs en.,oy the lowest city rate.
S ,?' "",«"""»' experience of
.•s hat rT^'y"'.""' ^"''"i State,
« that rale, for domestic light and
UWc of comparative lighting rale,
fiin,,.h,ng particular, for 108 cities
of the United States having a popu
at,on of 30,000 and over, i? i, ^oTd
In^Lo •"»'", *•?"■"" "'Seattle
and Lo, Anptele, have a rate as low
"" -''l' eent. per k.w.h. after dis-
ount. he others running fr„„C
In .1 r.""'' f"^ E.Thibit UI).
Canadian cities, if we tain t),„ j"
counted rate of Vaneotive^'^t 8^';;
kwli^ It .,11 be found to come filtZ
.eeond on the list, „r practicaTy mM-
Sr-"*™?- "'''"«''"' """Cst
American cit.e. Thu, in eompari.on
with the general experience of Ameri-
can ctic, Vancouver doe, noVfare
fad y, even under present eond Hon"
'ith Seattle, therefore, it must h.
Jorne ,n mind that Vancrver I.
heing compared not with the avera^'
LlOHT AMD FoWEB
SI
rntci of the United Stales, .but with
the lowest of their city rates.
It is not possible to go into the
discussion of all the statistics fur-
nished and comparisons made, but
some of the broad features most
vitally interesting to the people of
Vancouver and district may be dealt
with.
Probably the most important point
to be considered is that the Van-
couver hydro - electric Coquitlam-
Buntzen plant has been developed
under very special conditions, which
(JO far to account for the position in
which the Company finds itself today.
When in 19fl« the B. C. E'ectr'ic
undertook the construction of this
plant, it was facing t!ic requirements
of a city and district of large
promise, indeed, hut of very moder-
ate though healthy growth. The dom
and tunnel as originally planned were
likely to take care of the needs of
the district for quite a number of
years. Time would be alTordcd for
the maturing of more extensive plans
when future needs seemed to demand
them. In a few years, however, the
rate of progress of the district be-
gan to pass all expectations. Soon
so ra, d was the increase that before
the necessary preparations could be
made the resources of the Company
were overtaken. Time at once became
an all-important factor, thus necessi-
tating the enlargement of the tunnel
and the construction of a much larger
danri within the briefest ponsible
period. These extensions were under-
taken in 1911. To avoid the longer
lime involved in the cutting of a new
tunnel, the existing one was enlarged
from ten to fourteen feet, while still
in use. In the construction of the
dnm the dimensions at first consid-
ered satisfactory were greatly, and
apparently unnecessarily, extended at
the instance of the Dominion Gov-
ernment and exceptional measures
were required to be token by the Com-
pany to protect the water supply of
New Westminster. All this added
very largely to what was expected
to be the normal cost of the enter-
prise. However, the work wo« com-
pleted in an exceptionally permanent
manner. The construction and equip-
ment of the power houses at Lake
Buntxcn were also of a high grade,
and tlw same applies to the transmis-
sion system and transforming sta-
tions. Power, however, from the
new plant was not available until th^
autumn of 1913. In the meantime a
very substantial and completely
equipped stcum plant was con-
structed as a necessary auxiliary to
the hydro'electric system.
While this construction and equip-
ment was going on the demand for
light and power in Vancouver and
district was increasing by leaps and
bounds. Two alternatives were dis-
cussed by the management — the de-
veloping of new power plants on
tdditional sites of their own, or the
'ntering into a contract with the
Western Canada Power Companv for
a large and for some years incVeas- .
ing block of power. The latter alter-
native was chosen and the contract
with the Western Canada Power
Company was the result. (See E\-
hibits 19 and 43.)
COST OF rOW» OOES OS ALTHOL-OII
COXSfMPTIOX OlOPS
Unfortunately for the Company,
just when it was ready to toke care
of the expected expansion, not so
much in the previous line of mere
city-building as in the newer direc-
tions of extensive industrial develop-
ments, which would stabiliie the some-
what top-heavy residential and retail
extensions, an economic reaction set
in and has been continued under war
conditions. The Company has been
left, therefore, with an cxceptionallv
complete and cfBcient electrical estab-
lishment on its hands. It hos in addi-
tion contracted to take further power
which, though somewhat reduced in
amount this year, is nevertheless
practically unnecessary. As explained
by Mr. Murrin, the larger part of
th. co.t of producing Ih. po»cr ro-
point ,^.r«Jt;ui:"'»""'
wh""!* '"' ' '""'"'™' to the
S..ttlo pl.„t. „ /|„d „„. i„ „„h ™
tlcclnc Compwy in 191 1. ft ,-, ,
mcnt (hi the one hand a hvdrol
cindV P''!" *"«"«) to m«t S.;
condition, ,. being „.„d ,„ "''T
™„, oapacit,, .uppl™„„,J"J'
»lcampo«r. On the other hand n«
development, .re „„der way licZ
.. loot only relieve the prZure'™
the p-,ent plant, but .^11 p^.y";
"I comparat.veljr ,m.|i .rf^jtiona
o" lay,, o, the need, of a con id"?
expenditure o„ ,«, „ton,ivc iinder-
to the pre,e„ output. When the ,T,
fully brouBht ,„t„ operation, the per-
■na lent capital charge and cost of
maintenanc. and „p??atio„ . " ,"
once fall upon ,b„ „<,,„„, ,,„,^,. °
ener«j, ,o|d and very materialTv "r
^'odtrthth'T'R;'"-'"'
wriomlv divided
^-^^^^ctS^:;;,:-!;:!;
enough that lb rr'^,::;,""'."-'
-■"■•cnnotLX'TuXir;
;"i«'.r„xxrfo'r.or
«^Si^:-.;f~
°'a"er.igh..e„nd.;„:''.t.'co;"l™
Dr.,2^ .k ^ **""•''' o'"n>or and
thriXlan?*?'"' "'° """■"'"i" in
'neir plan, for overtaking the de-
mand, which had out,triD^d them
Our .ympathie, may very wZ td
to both aceu,er. and accused. The
■act. and Ibeir con.e,|Ue;ice fall,
cuefly upon ,ho,e.l,o,e capital;'"
«pect a, already indicated, .,o '„r",
1„ T""^ h'J actuallv made
plan, and invMted it, capital upi^n a
forecast .hich tunied out to be ^„
: J^rorr:'^,:- -^
S't'"'-'-.^/i^!
™^-;- "' '" •''■»eu»»ing ,imilar
me"t aTth" '"'°"'- '""^ '"-"
S " '" P"™«nent public
™l*^.7," ""'"" "PW-lation, in
"onal and temporary ven urc, TlL
o„e, entailed „„ the B, C E cetr^
we:r'*s^prx:'^'^'
tt'^or'';-'""^"^*™"""^^
inc condemnat on of the r„„..,
rt1,^f^l:'°"^- ^ "■«--:
bLi, f„l '■^.".'^''""'" •« niade a
el" "ric Lr°'T"'"« "■= ■■'"''» "■■
rate th ".t ""'' P°'" »t a higher
rate than Iheje could be applied un-
« ur,7 .r' '°"'''"°"' of the time
". .P™<lently Mtimated. In deter
mining .h.t i. . ,.;, rate for e£
tncal energy at .ny gjven period tl^e
fundamental .nd Xi.ive' factV ^
Light and Poweh
the cost of construction and equip-
ment of a permanent plant of good
quality, which will be able to meet
both the present requiremcnti and
some reasonable degree of expansion
for the future. It must not be too
distant a future, however, for then
the interest and depreciation on the
investment more than counterbalance
the advantage of being prepared in
advance to supplj all poMible expan-
sion of the district.
POWEB BATES FAIB AMD BEASONABLE
LIGHT BATES HIGH
Assuming that this is a reasonable
basis on which to judge of the eco-
nomic value of a public utility service
we have next to consider the actual
adjustment of latcs as a fair charf^c
for standard electrical services.
Judged ulikc from the point of view
of tiieir application to the condition^
uf Vancouver district und by com-
parison with the rates elsewhere, it
muitt be admitted that the rates
churffcd by the D. C. Electric for
the larger quantities of power for
commercial and industrial purposes
are on the whole fair and reasonable.
There is wisdom also in the policy
adopted of making special low rates
for industries which arc able to use
electrical energy in large quantities,
especially during a large proportion
of the day, or, best of all, during the
night or other off-peak periods.
These rates, whether according to
regular schedule- or on special con-
tract, compare quite favor/ibly with
those of Seattle nnd other fnvorwi
centres. (Sec Exhibits 131, 142 and
143.) This is an important fact, be-
cause it lies at the foundation of the
future industrial development not
onlv of Vancouver district, but of the
whole Eraser Valley, as well as the
Island of Vancouver.
As to street lighting, the rates arc
certainly exceptionally low, especial-
ly in comparison with what may he
considered a reasonable rate of light-
ing for other purposes.
When we come to domestic light
and power, however, we find that
apart from the special cooking and
heating rates the charges are high,
especially for a hydro-electric plant.
Moreover, it would appear that the
higher rates act considerably as a
discouragement to the use of light
and power where they are taken
through the same meter, at must be
the cose in the great mapority of
households. In Exhibit UH Mr.
Murrin gives an interesting table
Hhuwing the number of private resi-
dence consumers of electric light and
power whose, accounts were not suf-
ficient to meet the monthly expenses
of the Company in serving them. In
July, 1916, the number using not
more than IS k.w.h. for the month
were 10,773, while in December the
numbers were 4,347. On the other
hand, the numbers of those who used
over 12 k.w.h. wore, in July 5,679 «nd
in December l!J,47a. Thus, for the
month of July nearly two-thirds of
the accounts of the residential con-
sumers did not meet the expenses of
the Company in serving them, and
even in December one-quarter of Hie
consumers were in the same position.
Two conclusions inevitably result
from such u situation : First, that the
Company Hhould follow the sound
practice of the majority of electric
light corporations, municipal as well
as private, and make a minimum
monthly charge of not less than 50
cents, which would meet approxi-
mately 50 per cent, of the cost of
maintaining the service. On the other
hand, by lowering the rates for <lo-
mestic light and power there would
he a very direct incentive to use the
current more freely and more regu-
larly. This applies not only to the
larg<! number whti are unprofitublc
consumers, but to those who take a
larger portion and might easily be
encouraged or induced to employ
electricity more freely, not perhaps
so much in the line of light as in the
greater use of the rapidly extending
comforts and conveniences which are
now placed at the disposal of the
Rira«T or Di. ArAM Smoitt
commuoitj Md which /urnuh < v,r.
™n«d.rabl. •ub.limtc /or the power
ond heat derived from coal.
Thii phaie of the problem i> the
more important inanmuch at the
quantity of electrical energy avaU-
able under the pre«nt equipment of
the Company'i plant is very great
and every reawnable effort and
policy ehould be proicuted to extend
the uie of electrical power, the ad-
vantage! of which arc ae yet only
very partially appreciated by the
general public.
No more .triking example of what
may be accompK.hed in the way of
rapidly extending the u.e of electrical
power, both a, to the quantity em-
ployed «,d the range of it. uJe., i.
furnished than by the City of Winni-
peg. Because of the unique position
of Winnipeg in the matter of electric
liglil ond po»cr rates, the Commis-
«.oner spent „ fo„ day, there i„ l„„k.
ing up the history and present con-
dition of that utility
Before 1907 the City of Winnipeg
was supplied with electric light and
puwe' by the Winnipeg Electric
H"il"ay Company, Electricity was
supphed for domestic consumption at
the rate of «0 cents per k.w.h. Need-
ess to say, the consumption was very
limited. In 190s the Electric Roij-
»ay Company, which occupied the
same position with reference to the
public utihlie, of Winnipeg a. the
B. C. Electric doe, to the public utili-
ties of the coast eitie.,, began the
construction of „ hydro-eloctric
power plant at Pinawa, near Lac du
rc2Jr"'.L°" ""^ ^^'™"'>« River. In
lUOT this was completed at a eo,t of
something over $3,000,000 and im-
mediately came irto operation. Do-
mestic rates were then reduced to 10
eenl, per k.w.h. While the Com-
pany s plant was under construction,
■n the absence of a public utilities
commission, various negotiation, be-
tween the City and the Winnipeg
Electric Railway Company for better
term, broke down, a, also proposal.
from other quarters. The outcome
was the decision of the citizens to
earry out the tentative plan, which
^i tJ ^ "".'""■<' '"' • ""''
plant. This wa. undertaken at Point
du Bois, also on the Winnipeg River.
;'„" """""Ix'ew plant, lucce...
fuUy earned through on the basis of
the original estimates, though certain
exten.ion, and improvement, were
afterward, added. The original plant
-.. completed in 1911 .mi dMlric
P""" »•■ «"' 'upplied in October
of that year. The total expenditure
^",''^1''""° 1913, including the
bydro-eleetric in.tall.tion and the
system, of tran.mi»ion and di.tribu-
lion, amounted to $S,7J9,169. The
plant wa. designed for a normal
generating capacity of 60,000 h d
assuming 60 per cent, load factor."
lliere IS, however, available on peak
load 100,000 h.p. The capital™;
W:,^out at ««« pe, ,.... „,.
WIXXIPEO ALDE.MEX UZLO TO Mw '
a.\TE riOMISE.
As correctly pointed out by .Mr
.Uurrin, ,t wa. expected at first to
meet domestic requirements at not
lower than 7 cents per k.w.h., to be
gradually reduced a. experience jus-
tified. Certam aldermanic candidates,
liowever, with a rashness unknown to
such pe™n. when transformed to
actual aldermen, having promised the
public 3-cent electricity, were clamor-
ously held to their promises. The
expected commercial demands for
power not developing, end there be-
ing much power running to waste, it
well be faced over the head of low
rates as over the head of insulBcient
use of power. Accordingly a 3U..
cent rate, with a discount bringing it
to 3 cents net, wa, granted. :\l the
.'ame time a reduction of one-third
was made in power rates. Even then,
however, only some l,')„Wo citizen.,
look advantage of this very excep-
tional rale during the first" year of
operation. In desperation the civic
LlOHT AXD POWEE
SS
uuthoritiet took a Ickf out of tht
book of the more entcrpming private
corporationt and ttartKl a vigoroui
advertising campaign to 'induce the
citiicns to uk their own power, mailc
available at bargain-counter raten by
their own taxvs and in responie to
their own clamoroui dcmanda. The
rciult wai that in about three monthi
the number of conturocrt had in-
creased tome fifty per cent.* and lince
that time, notwithttonding war con-
ditions, not only have the numbers
of consumers been greatly increased,
but the amount of electrical energy
taken by individual consumers has
been very materially tncreaicd. The
use of electricity for cooking and
heating has particularly expanded,
owing to the exceptionally low rntc
of 1 cent per k.w.h. There arc now
in use over SS.OOO meters.
The net result of the Winnipeg ex-
periment is- that through luw rutcs
and acti%-c canvassing, which chiefly
consists in explaining to consumers,
wliethcr actual or pronpcctive, the
many advantages to Ik obtained from
a more extensive use of electricity,
the heavy deficits which were at first
faced are now converted into a smalt
hut respectable surplus, which bids
fair to increase steadily. In other
words, Winnipeg was apparently, for
some years at least, faced with two
alternative forms of loss on its elec-
trical plant, cither a loss from its
unused power which would ^wump
any gain on the portion sold at a
good profit, or a loss an a smaller
quantity of unused power which
would still swamp the small gains on
a larger quantity of used power nt
very low rates. Circumstances, and
not a conviction of sotmd policy,
force<l the City to adopt the latter
alternative. Even then the expected
losses were likely to have continued,
but the active educational publicity
campaign which, once well started,
aided in its own extension, rapidtv
converted toss into a profit.
In Winnipeg as elsewhere a mini-
iiuim montlitv charge is exacted, tlic
amounts being 50 cents for tight and
$1 for power. The management has
also adopted and strongly advocates
a system of customers* deposits. Tlie
amount is $S, and on this interest at
6 per cent, is allowed. Out of the
30,000 meters in use during the pa^t
year there were 18,000 removals.
While conditions in Vancouver and
Victoria are admittedly not the same
as those in Winnipeg, and the costs
of electrical devclopmmt at Coquit-
lam-Buntien have lM!cn necessarily
higher owing: to greater physical
difficulties and for other reasons al-
ready indicated, yet the Winnipeg
experience places in a striking light
the fundamental feature in much
other experience in these and similar
lines elsewhere. Where the supply of
a commodity or a service is available
in considerably greater quantity than
called for, or whore it can be in-
creased at flight additional cost, the
towering of the rate to secure an
Increased market is sound economic
policy and tlic surest guarantee
against a competition which would
lie unfortunate for all parties.
It would, of course, require very
much stronger assurance of a pro-
portionately greater market for elec-
trical energy to justify considerably
lowering rates where it was developed
from a steam plant, inasmuch ns
even where there is a considerable
margin of capacity in tlic steam plant
the extra output of electrical power
means a corresponding expense for
fuel and its handling, whereas in thu
case of a hydro-elect ric plant with a
considerable available margin the
extra expense for additional power is
very alight.
KXTEXSmS or irsp. OF KLECTEtC
CI'REK T VEOED
Again, the possibilities for extend-
ing the market for electrical power
are very much greater than tlie cor-
responding possibilities in the case nf
a street car service. Apart from the
original location of one's abode or
place of business, only to a vorv
M
Hctoit or Di. Ahau Shoitt
liroitca Mtent irill . reduction in »r
f.rM mduc. .itra Ir.wl, !«,„„ ,h,
noma uk 0/ c.ri i, incidonl.1 only
lo one. buiincM or other .cttlcd ri-
quiremenl.. But in the cm, of clcc-
Irjciil po»er every reduction in rate,
place, mlhin the range of the con-
jumcr. nc> or enlarged opportunitie.
for aceeplabl. «rvicc. which once
•doptcd, an ejten.ion of uh it nat-
ural, ..pecially if r.l„ continue to
decrvaH.
In the face of the actual .iluation
■n Woeouver and di.trict, a. aUo in
\Ktoria, there i. every ju.liflculion
fur an immediate lowerinR of tlie
exi.ling rate, for domwtic light „nd
power. If thia were followed up hv
an active educational canva.. di-
'igned to bring home to the ordinarv
eitijcn. the po..ibililiM of clcetric.il
power m an incren.e of comfort and
convenience and a con,«|uc„t ccon-
»ray of time, energy, di.conifort and '
even money in many cases, tlie rcve-
nuc. of the Company would in all
probabihty be increased instead o.'
diminished by the chinge. It i. true
that tie response lo lowered rates
would be greater with the return of
prosperity and the means of support-
'"? " '»'««' population. Hence the
reduction recommended for the pre-
sent 1. not .0 great a. would be justi-
fied under improved condition., the
period or extent of which is just one
?!lT. "It"'/" ''"''■ "•">"'■' "»™i"l-
.V fn 11 lo the duty of a properlv co„-
•lilutcd public utililie, commission,
"ere H no special occasion to deal
scparnlely with conditions in Victoria
and district.
Although the engineering prob-
lem, lobe .olvcd at the Jordfn R™
wer» of a very different character
frri"™'." <^°S''"''"»-Bunt.cn, vet
much the """""^ ""'""°"' •"■•
much the .ame, on a wmewhat
.mal.r.ca^e. The chief difflc"ryi
d~J very high for the amount of
power con.umcd, ina.much a. on a
gro.. earning. ba.i. of »S8ii,463 the
net earning, after deducting operat-
ing e.vpen«., though not fixtl cfpital
charge., ^ , ,„ j^ ^J
that sum. The rial dilllcuIlT i., a.
ThZ'- ^ ""'"«'■'""■"•'■' •°W«""
™Talle "".V""""" 'ituation i.
equally convincing. In other woH.,
the d„cu..,on of the Vancouver situa-
tion IS apphcaWe in principle to Vic-
toria con, ilion.. Hence llie ,„me
recommendations are made with re-
ference to rates.
Full statistical information was
prescnld ,„ the Comnii.sion with
reference to the operation, of tlic
liritish Columbia Electric BailJav
l^Z''T,l" ^'""'PP'y °f (t»» to por-
tions of , he citie. of Vancouver and
\.etor,a Particulars a. l„ the cpi-
tol employed, the rates charged for
go., the groM and net returns to the
company, ,„., „:„ ,„ ,„„„,, .__ ^^^
WMo .'■, '""""P*"?'"!! ">i« report.
While the pre«,nt rate, «pp,„r t„ be
unduly high, yet, owing to the pre!
»cn and prospective difflculli™ „f the
coal situation, while the war con-
tinues It 1, con«idere.l inexpedient to
make any proposal, for the alteration
Soo, M ■■ 7, ■*' "-"P"*"! time.
l>c appointed, it would be the proper
W.v to deal with these matter, when
condit^ns for the production of ga^
have become more .table after the
«>e reproduction of Si the «wTT' "■""''' '"™'«
B. C. Electric Railwav cLpanv «"*'"' ^"'''"'» "^ «>e
business corporation " ' ^""P'"-' " »" organized capitalist
PVIUC UtIUTIU COMUIIMOX
37
VIII. PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSIOX
I-OMMATIUX OV iC»M31IMION NECEUARY IN PUBLIC INTEBUT
Dr. Shortt dtelar^t luck a bodif would noi onljf protect public but wotdd
protect eorporationt from each other and from ihortiighled and trreipontibtg
sectional clamor ahich would crippi* or destroy largt inveatmenti with
detriment to the communiig.
AT Kveral pointa in thin report
** reference hu been made to the
runctions of * a permanent public
utilitica eommttiion m a bodv to
which roiflht be referred the is»ui's
which ronitantly uHie an between tlic
interests of the public and thone of
corporations which provide those
permanent and costly scrvicei which
are practically indispensable in mod-
ern communities. TIicm references
were necetsary because, even were it
paanible to determine exaetlv what
"hoiild be the proper adjustment of
the civic and corporate intcre^tts on
all matters ia diapute nt the time of
a special investigation, it docs not
follow that the adjustment, for in-
stance, of rates and fares, conditions
fi.id quality of service, etc.* must re-
main constant for any considerable
length of time. There are certainly
fundamental economic and social con-
ditions and principles of policy which
must remain fairly constant, until at
least very radical changes have been
cfTected, but all matters incident to
the constant variation ot supply and
demand, costs of production and mar-
gins of profit, rival sectional and
individual interests and long and
shortsighted views of common inti-r-
csts, arc subject to conntant varia-
tion. This is particularly true of
those countries and sections of coun-
try in process of the first develop-
ment of their territory and its re-
sources. Their progrcsji 'm sure to
Iw somewhat spasmodic and iin-
Imlnnccd. In the curlier ntages their
important but more slowly matured
permanent interests may be hastily
sacrificed ti quite temporary but
very urgent requirements. This ap-
plies not only to civic matters, but
to provincial ood rural conditiont.
Moreover, in a prov net such as Brit-
ish Columbia there U a remarkable
variety not only in its physical and
climatic conditions, but in its natural
resources and tlivir exceptional rela-
tions to each ^thcr. There is tlierc-
forc an urgent need for tho proper
supervision of these resources as tliey
affect the daily needs of the people
and the maintenance of the rights of
future citizens, who will naturally ex-
pect to enjuy their fair share of the
common priviK-ges of the country as
a condition of their permanent irtttc-
ment in it and participation in its
development. To this cm! not only
wise general laws, but efllcicnt ad-
ministration, with full information as
to the conditions to be dealt with in
each case, must be provided to main-
tain a just and fair balance between
all interests where the ordinary free
play of competitive business relations
and contracts is insufficient to meet
such far-reaching conditions, so pro-
longed in time, so great in magni-
tude, so permanent in character and
so vitally affecting large bodies of
citizens.
Gt'ARDUX OF CITIZP.XS AXD Oir
PI'ILIC'S SKEVANTS
To act as a special guardian at
once of the citizens who require the
services of Iniporti- public utilities
and of the partii.^ .vho undertake
heavy risks and obligations in pro-
viding them, is the special duty ot a
public utilities commission. This body
or commission will naturally Iw in
close touch with the various adminis-
trative departments of the govern-
ment having to do with such interests
as water powers, highways and rights
ol wmf /or th. lo»| tr.n.porl.tion
""•••""'*' " '"•' •upplici, miiimg
•nd D.hiiig right!, etc. Thu.. for
initMct in lh< nutter of »>|ct pow-
"I, th. diitrihution of the beneAt<
from thm •/Tecti muiy individu.!,
corpor.l, „d civic intemti ud
Mvcral d.p.rtm«.U of the Provin-
c;.l OoTtrnmrat. Owing to the phr-
•■«! condition, of . mounLinoi.
country divided into mora or !«■ e«-
^'T I^'T' ''"• "•'»' highlv
«p«ci.iiMd climntic condition., u|| the
vnried indu.trie. .nd puhlic utilitie.
carnc.1 on in one of thcM valley, arc
dually to . greater or le.. degree
dependent upon th. common .atcr
•upply of th. central .trcam of evorv
""'J '■*"•:; '■•'•""g. or .mall and
with or w,lho..t lake expan.ion.. The
rainuig indu.ti:-. which are apt
.ooner or later to .pring up at vari-
"U. point. ,n the valley, rcouire to
utilize the water power for their do-
intTcTr'-, ■''•■•,'»"''"• "Rrieull.iral
intere.t,, from live .lock to fruit-
growing, may depend to a very con-
.iderable extent upon the common
water .upply for Irrigation. With
an influx of population and the
growth of one or mora civic centre.
Ih<..rc come, the nccl for electric light
and power, alike for town and coun-
try. Similarly local Iran.portotion,
when .ufflciently developc.1, will claim
a .hare of the power tor electric
tramway. The indi.p«,.ablo water
.upply of the town, ai J village., a,
al»o of the larger indu.trie. which
may grow up, ha. likcwiw to be con-
•irtcred. The common water .upply
of th. valley including the variou,
tributarie, which combine to proiluce
it. If It. dBcient application to nil the
pro.pcctive .ervicc. reqi.- sd of it ■'.
carefully planned in advance, may be
quite adequate for all ordinary' re-
quirement, for an indcflnito time to
come. But if, without a proper regard
for all the euential intere.t. to h«
served, the water .upply i, permitted
to be recklc.ly exploited by the flr.t
interMt. which appear, . ,d which
mill obtain prior and more or lc>.
IUwi»T or D». AHAii Smoitt
.xclu.iv. right., llM „.u|,, ,„ |i.y,
to b. diMjlrou. for th. .ub.cqu.nl
and much man important int.rct.
which require to depend upon it.
riiu., not only in civic centre, and a.
regard, th. .peciaj matter, dealt with
in thi. report i. there lik.ly to be
wa.t.ful .trif. bttWMn the rival in-
temt., but inaamuch a. thcH may
t" .upported or at ln.1 their dilS-
cultie. occaaioned by different .le-
partmcnl. of th. Provincial Govern-
ment, thcH depAiment. are more or
Ic.jnvolved, to the general embar-
ra..ment of th. Oovcrnincnt a. well
a. to tlic detrimmt of the country.
If. however, there i. provid«l a .ingle
ooily who.e function it ahouM l,c lo
regulate the privilege, and .ofeguard
the rcpeclive right, of corporation,
deah.g with public utilitie, ,ucli a.
.unitary water, power, light, trnii.-
portation, irrigation, etc., the vnri-
ou« puhlic and private interct. a.
regard, public .ervicc- utilitie, mn ,■
he fully harmoniieil by n reference o
the .ingle te»t of ;he public intere.t.
iiat.po.v.i.L£ oaoir. M.ir di;»t.ov-
I.VTE1E.TS or PI-DLIC
-Nothing, however, i. more danger-
ou. and mi.leading than the eon.tant
attempt, made to identify with the
public inlerct the merely .ectional or
clo.. interct. of a .mall but chimor-
ou. minority. Under the cry of pro-
vccting the public inlerct againit the
encroachment, of large corporation.
OP other combination, of capital,
«ucli .mall and irrcpon.ible group,
would dctroy .ome of the mo.t per-
manent and CKntial interest, of the
public at large. No .ervicc., whether
public or private, are perfect, but n,
the .mailer «er.icc. can he .afelv left
to free competition, under ge'nernl
regulation, for the public safety, the
ducontented an able to pas. "from
one to another in the search for
.omething a little le.. objectionable
than the lait.
But when of neccily a service i.
'° '■"■«'• »" general, .o vital to
the pubhc and involve, such large
Pt-lUC UTfLtTUU COMMIMION
59
connnitnMDta of capital whicK cannot
be rcadiljr withilrawn, it cannot be lat-
iafactoriljr ngulatod by competition
and ioonwr or lattr boconiM a virtual
monopoly. Tlwn tho critiriam which
wai iharp but Matttred btcome*
concentrated and at tinwe elamoroua.
Common txpcritne* indicatci that
while nearly all of tht criticism of
.large corporations, whether private
or municipal, ia natural, human na-
ture being what it it, much of it ii
unreasonable, in the sense of being
directed against the inevitable, while
some of it, and occasionally a great
deal of it, is both reasonable and
ncK-cssary and urgently rv<|uirca
remedy. It is then the primary func-
tion ot a public utilities commisvion.
I>y a constant nccumulution and in-
ti'lligcnt study of the facts, to deter-
mine what is and what is not rcniton-
ablc and Justifluble criticism nf the
pu'jiic utility services rendered by
private corporations, luid on the
basis of this knowledge to require the
maintenance of a fair and equitable
■standard of efltcieney, such ah it is
possible and reasonable to afford, and
to regulate the rates at which such
services can be maintained. In doing
so, such a commission will And it
necessary not only to protect the
public against the unjust and un-
necessary encroachments of the cor-
porations, hut. to tiic end that the
corporations may be able in the most
efficient manner to meet the require-
ments of the public, to protect them
against each other and against short-
sighted and irrnsponsibtc sectional
clamor which, if allowed to determine
public policy, would cripple or de-
stroy very essential enterprises in-
volving large investments of wealth,
the impairment of which would imme-
diately react to the detriment of the
community.
The formation of a public utilities
commiasion is therefore recommended
for tht Province of British Columbia.
On such a commission should be ap-
pointed certain departmental ufficials
who are most thoroughly acquainted
with the actual conditions relating,
for instance, to water powers and
other natural resources of the pro-
vinet, the utiliting of which is essen-
tial to the services rendered by the
public utilities. Apart from the de<
partmentat members there should be
at least one person of good judgment
and wide .experience who could devote
his whole time to acquiring and co-
ordinating the necessary information
as to the varied interests of the public
invotveil in the mora important utili-
ties. If properly constituteil, the
comuiiMitiun will be able to furnish
well matured and just regulation*
and decision!* alike for the general
administration of tlic various public
utilities as for the adjustment of spe-
cial grievances and claims as to rate:*
and conditions of service, in accord-
ance with whot may be most ex-
pedient in the public interest.
To such a commission could be
transferred the mass of statistical
and other information as to the post
and present condition of the public
utilities conducted by thr British
Columbia Electric Railway Company,
produced before the present special
Conmiission. This will furnish for
future reference a body of valuable
information on the ground covered,
and which can be adileil to in other
fields and kept up to date. Tliu* the
commission will be able to afford an
intelligent readjustment in the future
of the rates and conditions of service
which arc recommended in this re-
port, some of which will require fur-
ther modifications when conditions
change for the better, to the mutual
advantage of the Company and the
public.
H»i-..»T ur D: Adam Shoitt
IX. KIXDIXGS AXD RECOMMEXDATIOXs
VANCOl'VEH CITV .\SD THE
.MAINLAND
1. In ueiinl.iin with Ihc rcwlu-
■lon of th« Vancounr Cily Council
"rJun.lOMl.lT.th..cnn.»f,|"ch
'«. Elcclrio R.,|,.y Coiiip«,y, ,h|^,,
rewlulion ... embodied in li„ Ordor-
m-founcil .ppoiniing thi. Comn,,-
'■on, and which ii u to\U,w, :
Ik! r'y 7., """'■" ""J '»t»cc„
IfswV /"""'" •"■' ">= 'i'y
t.Sr^ '^"•■"■"•l" cnnol be m«in-
|^«ft.llv«,/„rthi„,hcb„dvof.hi.
„bf;,- "^Jl "i'° ""■" °' ""■' ■"'-"nation
>b ., ,«J dunng the invcliga.ion i„.
o the economic condition. .,,d „pcra-
„ ''"-r C»">P«ny and ,uh,idiarv
nt,„„, are „ ,, ,.„ .„„j„„
that until Vk.« ■. '**'wniiwiKtM|
•lilell nuv L ;„~„„S" <:"Tnml„l„„
■>rMHn.!r» ?* "PPo'ntM. OP bv miitiMl
I^»l^Li!H '^ '"« '•"•■r "".pan.,
• •■ >r P-valUloa are.. ., ,».',|™ m.V
lb. b,.p markrt -B.kib,, ,'u." £ Tlji
.m~,l, ,i,bi„ .bleb ,.„ .'„'3-,^ «J'
ll^" '*""'*"»"«"•'""" ™"-
■ J.'!.^'/'" "•"'•n "i Iba >lnM
c»ri la .ad freai Ibia en, papatallon .m
9rrb.tf:s'"b.TJur,^^
. H-5.3r"-"— ■■"'''-
priMpeellv. rln.acl.l eomliuant.
"• pArlle. In lb. Mtnie •'onferenrp an
■J..e,W |„ E,b|b, ,il lk,„^„'Z
. » lew la p^uriiiff unneee«.p^- oMIi ami
m.im..l„i„, . ,«,„ „„.,^ ^„",|^™j
(J| Tbal lb. n. C. EWlrle 1I..1,.,.'
•lib lb. pi.„, p„,,„„| |„ Km,
'" '"'"■••' "• -re"! limit ,ml I, .kip
vr'iLra,;;'-"" ^•""-"-™'
•1. It ia recominemled :
«nd pa»er on Scbniul. I. A, .bleb .1
pre.™ run tram 11 oral. |„ j eeal, p^
M ond *lo k.w.h, and «uhip.-t lo a Jo
.T-'iri-- tT"! '.' I»" -"•"" "" ""-^
.bill li. redoc«l from J.nu.r.- 1. I»ij
to net r>l« of a rem, lo 4 rents 'nd
to?,'/ i^l'.'r: "'" "»" i» "■•i-«i
iS: ; ™?^" "■ * ■■""• ■"«' "» '"'"-
meUl.le ratet propnrtlnn.lclv.
ln'r'.',J''.''i,'.;iT'i.'"°r"'™"""l"«lon
!^. V :f' "'" I'"*" I" "» -cbeJiile
t«el,™tolrl5'"' "'''''■'"" '" »" •'■'-
rnew .dJolnlnR \ ancourer and wbich at
pre»nl .tart .lib . ii^,„, „,,. '"'' "
^V I"*?* .*"* '"*'«' I'Ot.I of li rem*
r ': ^f^"'' ■-,;*■ '» ■"•"■"lin"ed a",^d
Ibot a nioimum ebarge o/ oo rrnli n,,
monlh le regulrcd tin.. -„ u "^
of 10 per eenl ma, i« .jj^ , „ ^
count, orerdue for t„„tv d,„
of ,li rJl' """'■' "" ""■'"'•ioi mndlllon
ln» Ibe ne<t t.o y.ar^ . funb,, rnlac-
r
.'i.°"jv:r.',r.'j'fiL?t £»-.' ™.«
Fl.v°l»ci AND H.cn».,.>,„.. ,
VICTORIA
«.'.„„'.' " ."'°"'.'™»"'«' th.t for the
reason, g,v„ ,„ ^^^ '
«» J.h„j,. a„d „„,„ bu.^ ""
reach the mnlre of the cilv thZ
J»«n ^. to. Street loD„ugl„StTO°
1. 'Il^'J* "w>nm>Mid«i that .in,..
;??"• ">• rale, fo, d„„„,; ,. "•
tricl !!,„ L ?• ' ^"'"na and di,.
that
eou
"e able to exist at all." " '"* Company itself shall
• • •
^^.n^aS^ti'S ^"irtrf;"l"'ie"*"'< «»n the eon-
™?«l.v seetional or das " /^t? 5/*" P","'-^ '"''■«' the
""nonty. Under the cry of ^f .■ " ""«" ''"' clamorous
W.nst the .ncroaehmentTof Ia?jr '■"» "" P^^'c i"t°«s?
b.nat,on» of capital, sueh small InS ^'''T"""'"", or other com
ttfy-^me of th; most ^rmCnt'I^T™'''''' «™"P« -S
the public at large." P«™»nent and essential interests of
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